The Marauders: Year One
by thejilyship
Summary: The first year at Hogwarts for the Marauders and they start it off with a bang. Werewolves, murder, detention, and pranks. This year will be far from ordinary. Follows the boys through their first year of school. How they became friends and their antics.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is the first chapter and my first fanfic, I hope you enjoy! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter One: The Hogwarts Express <strong>

A great scarlet steam engine sat on the far side of platform 9 ¾. The excitement that the beginning of the new term brought could be tasted in the air. All the students of Hogwarts were rushing around greeting friends they hadn't seen over the summer, double checking their belongings to make sure that they had everything and rushing back to their families to say yet another good bye.

The first year students were easily spotted standing close by their parents, yet to make friends. Some of the faces stood in awe, taking in their surroundings with a sense of astonishment. And then there were those, equally excited, but having grown up in the wizarding world they were accustomed to magic.

Lily Evan's fell into the first category. She was standing next to her Muggle parents and sister looking around the platform and trying to take it all in. When she had first been told she was a witch, by Severus Snape two years ago, she had thought he had been teasing her. After a few weeks though, he had her convinced that the wizarding world actually did exist and that she would one day get to attend the most noble and ancient school of magic. Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

"What a beautiful train." Her father said, running his hand through his thinning hair and letting out a heavy sigh. Because really, what does one say when they drop their daughter off to go to a school for witches and wizards? David Evan's had taken it well though, much better than Lily's sister.

"I thought it was a magic school." Petunia scoffed. "What's so magical about a train?"

"Where it takes the children that board it." Rose Evans answered her. "I think destination is what makes the train extraordinary." She too had taken the knowledge of her youngest daughter being a witch extremely well.

"It's ten to eleven." Lily said, trying to hide her face from her parents. Her eyes were still watering from her conversation with Petunia a few minutes earlier in which Petunia had called her a freak. "I should probably get my things onto the train."

"Yes," Her dad said, walking over to her trunk. "I'll help you."

"Thank you." She said, trying to put on a smile for her parents sake.

"Oh, Lily!" Her mother cried, pulling her into a hug. "I'm going to miss you so much dear! You make sure to write to me every chance you get." She pulled away and placed a kiss on her forehead. "But put your studies first, yes? Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

"More than fine." Lily heard Petunia mutter. Lily's mum either didn't hear or pretended she didn't hear and handed Lily her bag, which Lily had put her school uniform in so she could change on the train without having to rummage through her trunk.

Lily followed her dad to the train and then hugged him goodbye after he had heaved her trunk onto the train.

"I'll miss you, Lils." He said, kissing her cheek. "Have fun."

"Thanks, dad. I will." She gave him another hug and then jumped onto the train.

James Potter stood about 10 feet from one of the doors of the train, trying to sneak closer and closer in-between hugs he was receiving from his mother. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he was growing impatient and wanted to get on the train before all the compartments filled up and he was forced to ride with _Slytherins_.

"Just promise me that you'll write home!" His mother exclaimed in a pleading voice pulling him in for, what seemed to James, the one hundredth hug.

"I promise to return all of your letters. Really mum, I will." James said while trying to pull away from her. He looked around his shoulder to make sure that no one was watching this embarrassing spectacle.

"You better!" His dad laughed gently prying his wife from their only son. "Because I am the one that's stuck with her the whole time that you're at school." James smiled appreciatively at his dad and his mum laughed at herself as older women learn to do. She tucked a strand of her grey hair behind her ear and then rested a hand on James shoulder.

"I know that you two think that I am being foolish, but you're my little boy and you're leaving me for more then 3 months! What am I going to do for 3 months?" She exclaimed throwing her hands in the air. By the look on her face, it appeared to be the first time that it actually dawned on her. Luckily Charles Potter was a fast thinker, and diverted the crisis.

"Not have to worry about the house being destroyed. Luckily, the castle is probably a bit harder to blow up." His dad smiled ruffling his son's unruly black hair.

"That was one time, and it really was an accident!" James said quickly. His parents laughed and then his dad helped him get his trunk onto the train. James aloud his mother to hug him one more time before the warning whistle sounded, letting all the students know that the train would be leaving shortly.

"We love you!" His mother called once he was on the train and waving from and open window. "Miss you already!"

"Love you too." James said blushing; looking around to make sure that no one heard him.

"Have fun James!" His father said waving.

"But not too much fun!" His mother called, suddenly looking as though she had forgotten something really important. "Don't get into any trouble! Do you hear me?"

"Liza, just say good bye to the boy." Charles laughed, throwing an arm around his wife.

"I'll miss you too mum." James smiled, still waving as the train started to pull away from the station. His mum shook her head, knowing perfectly well that her warning had simply gone in one ear and out the other.

James did his parents the courtesy of waving until he could no longer see them, but by then he was too excited to move much. He couldn't believe that he was actually going to Hogwarts. He had waited 11 years for this.

James continued to stare at the blur of scenery until he was brought out of his stupor by something knocking into him.

"Oh, sorry." A boy with long black hair looked up at him. "Just trying to get this thing to a compartment." He said motioning towards his trunk. The boy looked very upset.

"S'okay." James said picking up a handle of his own trunk. "I'm James by the way."

"Sirius." The boy forced himself to smile. "You a first year too?" He said politely, not really looking as if he wanted to stand around in the hall and talk to James.

"Yes." James said brightly. The two boys dragged their trunks down a hall, James in the front and Sirius shortly behind him because the halls were to narrow for them to walk next to each other. They walked all the way down the hall finding every compartment full.

"This is what we get for not getting seats earlier." Sirius muttered gloomily, as they reached the last compartment.

"Got your fingers crossed?" James said hopefully, trying to ignore Sirius' mood, as he walked up to the window only to find the blinds drawn. James looked warily at Sirius, who shrugged. "Should I knock?" James asked.

"Maybe." Sirius said. James did.

"It's open." Called a voice from within the compartment. James pushed the door open to find a mop of blond hair sitting atop a book. The book looked as though it had been strategically placed so that the reader's face couldn't be seen. The robes that the book faced boy was wearing were torn in places and patched in others. They were older robes and a bit to big for the small frame.

"Do you mind if we share the compartment with you?" James said motioning to Sirius, who he hadn't originally planed on sitting with.

"No, it's quite alright." The boy said, not looking up from his book, or moving at all as far as James could tell.

"Thanks, mate." Sirius sighed and then, without James asking, he helped him get James' trunk up onto the luggage rack and then James helped Sirius with his.

James and Sirius sat down a crossed from the boy, who still hadn't moved since they entered. Sirius looked at James and reached up to his own face pointedly, shifting his eyes from James to the boy. James shrugged and turned to face the boy.

"So, I am James and this is Sirius." The boy reluctantly lowered his book to his lap and looked at James and Sirius. The effect was much more dramatic then the boy wished it to be. As he lowered the book, three thin long scars were revealed in a perfect pattern a crossed his face. They started up above his left eye and worked they're way diagonally towards the right side of his face where they stopped just below his cheek bone. Sirius and James both gasped in shock, and the boy took a raggedy breath before speaking.

"I am Remus Lupin." The boy said looking anxiously between them. James suddenly realized that he was staring and averted his gaze to the floor.

"What happened to your face?" Sirius inquired in a curios tone. James' head shot up quickly and he stared at Sirius with wide eyes, surprised that he could be so blunt, but soon his curiosity got the best of him and he turned his head to look at Remus who looked shocked.

"Umm… flying accident. Fell off my broom." Remus said slowly. James could see Remus struggling with himself as he pronounced each word. "I landed on a rake." He then motioned to the identical lines on his face.

"Aw! That's nasty luck. You could have lost an eye." Sirius said, believing the story without second thought. Remus nodded and looked at his book that was still in his hands.

"Yeah, I've only fallen off my broom a few times, but I don't have any scars." James said thoughtfully, in almost an envious way. "Though I did manage to break both my legs and a few ribs once. My mom didn't let me fly for almost two months after that." James shook his head at the memory. "Anyway, you play Quidditch?"

"No." Remus said, surprised that he was still speaking to him.

"Me neither." Sirius said, the look he was wearing in the hall when James met him found its way back to his face. "My brother tries to get me to play with him sometimes, but my brother is a git, so I try and avoid him." James again tried to ignore Sirius's mood and went on with what he wanted to say.

"I wish I had had someone to play with. I want to tryout for the house team. I know they'll never let me on yet though. First years never make the house team. But it would still be fun to try out. I want to be a chaser."

"That's neat." Sirius said still looking upset. James decided that it was time for a subject change.

"What houses do you want to be in?" James asked.

"It doesn't really matter much to me. I am just glad that I get to go." Remus said softly. Then he looked up surprised, and James didn't think that Remus was aware that he had said that out loud.

"Oh." He said, obviously put out. "Well, I want to be in Gryffindor. Just like my dad." James stood up and pulled out an invisible sword. Remus laughed a bit, but Sirius just crossed his arms. James turned to him fearing that he had, again, chose the wrong thing to talk about. "What about you?"

Sirius hung his head before answering. "My whole family has been in Slytherin. I am just bound to get put there. With a last name of Black, I'd be foolish to expect anything else."

"And I thought you were a decant bloke. You could still get put in Gryffindor though. It just depends."

Sirius looked up and smiled at him for real this time to. "You think so?" "Definitely." Remus said, adding something to the conversation without being directly addressed first. "I doubt that they are going to put you in a house you really don't want to be in. I've been reading about the school. The founders used to hand pick the students they taught, but of course they use a different method now…" Remus trailed off but James and Sirius were listening to his every word.

"They use the sorting hat now." James said filling in the gap in Remus' knowledge. "My dad won't tell me much about it, says it's a surprise. But I don't think he remembers much about the hat. He went to school ages ago."

With the ice broken, and Sirius in better spirits, the boys spent the next few hours talking about Hogwarts, James found a few places to mention Quidditch and playing exploding snaps. Sirius and Remus found themselves having more fun then they could have imagined. They were all enjoying themselves.

"Umm…" A squeaky voice came from the doorway and all three boys, who were now sitting on the floor to play exploding snaps, looked up to see who it was. A blonde haired boy, with nervous looking blue eyes was standing there shaking at the sight of them. "The prefect asked me to tell you to change into your robes." With that, he slammed the door shut and ran back to his own compartment.

After they got over the initial shock, the boys started laughing.

James and Sirius got dressed, and Remus just got back into a seat seeing as he was already in his robes. After James and Sirius had put their muggle clothes into their trunks, they took their seats across from Remus. After a few minutes of idle chatter, Remus leaned towards the window and pushed his face against the glass. "I think I see it!" He said excitedly. "We're really here!" He said talking mostly to himself, but James and Sirius still jumped up and pressed their faces to the glass as well.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius sighed. "Look how big it is!"

And it was big too. The castle loomed over a lake with high towers penetrating the night sky, and when you looked at it, it seemed as though there no possible way that it could be staying up without magical means. The towers and there roofs seemed to be forever falling as the clouds rolled by them completing the allusion. The whole castle was reflected on the shiny surface of the Black lake making it all appear twice as large and twice as grand.

When the train came to a stop at the Hogsmade station and James, Sirius and Remus all dragged their trunks out onto the platform.

"Firs' years over 'ere!" James heard a rough voice shout over the heads of all the excited students. "Over 'ere! Leave your trunks. Come on!" James had just caught sight of who was calling them. He was about twice as tall as a normal man and about three times as wide. He gapped at him and then looked over to find Sirius and Remus looking just as taken back.

"That's wicked." James said pulling on Sirius's robe to make him stop staring and start moving. Remus noticed them walking toward the half giant and followed in suit.

The giant instructed them to get on boats in groups of three and make their way a crossed the lake.

"Well, that lucky isn't it." James said smiling at his new friends.

"What is?" Sirius said sulking. "That they're going to make us row across the lake? Not really."

"No, that there are three of us." James laughed and hopped in a boat. Remus chuckled to and hopped in after him. "But it's good to know that a little manual labor upsets you." Sirius smirked before hoping in the boat a little haphazardly and making it rock.

"Watch it, Potter." He said sitting down as James and Remus tried to steady the boat.

"Watch it yourself, Black." James grinned, shoving him.

Once they were all seated, they looked round for oars but found none.

"How are we supposed to get across the lake without oars?" Sirius asked.

"Do you think it's a test?" Remus asked crinkling his brow in worry. "Only those who can get across while get to go to school here?"

"I'll swim." Sirius said pushing up his sleeves and looking ready to dive into the icy water.

They only had to wait a moment to dwell on that frightening thought before their question was answered. The boat began to move smoothly over the water as if being pulled by something they couldn't see. They all laughed in relief at how silly they were to assume otherwise.

When they got to the other side, the half giant led them up a path, through a gate, and to the stone steps that would lead them through the front doors of Hogwarts.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, there is the first chapter of the Minnie Marauders, hope you enjoy! Reviews are always welcome. :D <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here is chapter two! This chapter has been edited since I published it two years ago. Hopefully it's cleaned up. Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Sorting <strong>

The new first years took hesitant steps up to the castle, quite intimidated by the sheer size of the whole thing. But James walked up the steps with a certain confidence one usually wore walking up a familiar path that led home. Remus followed behind him and Sirius, as they were leading the pack, gazing around in amazement. Sirius was doing all he could not to look like a normal first year. He would have all year to take in his surroundings. He needn't act like everyone else.

"This is it!" James said excitedly. "We are finally here."

"I feel oddly at ease." Sirius lied, looking over to find a big grin glued on James' face.

"Wait till the sorting starts." James said with a smirk. Sirius pushed him, trying hard not to let his good mood be spoiled by his fear of getting put into Slytherin where the rest of his family had been. He had a difficult relationship with his family. They were a bunch of pure blood elitists that looked down on any one who wasn't what they deemed to be worthy. He knew that that line of thinking was wrong, but he didn't know how to separate himself from the rest of his family without causing trouble for himself. Plus, there was his brother to take into account.

Sirius knew that it was wrong to look down on people who weren't pure blood, and who weren't rich. But he was also confused, because, being eleven; he did not have any profound opinions of his own and had only ever heard his mother and fathers feeling toward what they called, the lesser wizards, mudbloods, and people of lesser decent. His mother's words especially had been ground into him. He could, and did when told to, recite what it was that he was supposed to think. But he did so without conviction. Without feeling the meaning of the words he rattled off. He was most definitely the black sheep of the family. **  
><strong>

A stern looking, middle aged witch was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. She had a scroll of parchment in one hand and what looked like an old rag in the other. "Is everybody here?" She asked looking around the crowd of new students. A few of them nodded which seemed to suffice, for she motioned them all over to a large door, opening it with a flick of her wand.

The new students were greeted by a sea of faces as they entered the Great Hall. The students were separated into four groups, each with their own table. Slytherins sat at the far side of the hall, farthest from the door, next to them were the Gryffindors, then Hufflepuffs, and lastly the Ravenclaws nearest the door.

An old man with a pearly white beard was sitting in the very center of the hall up against one of the walls, where he could over look all of the students. He appeared to be un-sticking two small pieces of something yellow, though Sirius could not make out what it was from where he was. This was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. Sirius had heard all about him. He was just a teacher when his father was in school, but even then he was still legend. It was said that he had defeated Grindelwald in 1945, who, at the time, was the most feared wizard of all. Times had changed of course, but it was still a great accomplishment. Though, that fact was overlooked in the Black's house. It seemed that Dumbledore's wrongdoings out weighed the good, according to Sirius' mother. Sirius himself hadn't a clue what Dumbledore's wrong doing were, but he knew that he was supposed to feel great annoyance at the mention of him.

Professor McGonagall stopped them when they reached Dumbledore and James pointed to a stool that Sirius hadn't noticed. It was set up right below the staff table, directly in front of Dumbledore. Sirius tried to feel annoyed that Dumbledore thought himself so important that he should be in the very center of everything, but only found himself gapping in awe of the great wizard. McGonagall went up and stood next to the stool and laid the rag on it, which Sirius noticed wasn't a rag, but actually a hat. She then held up her hand for silence and a face appeared on the hat. Sirius and the other two laughed out loud when they saw it. Then the hat opened its mouth and started to sing.

"_Students I bid thee Welcome, For what wondrous Wizards you'll be, The magic you'll learn, and stories you'll hear, well, just wait and see,_

_ Place me a top your head, and let your thoughts be read, _

_ For without this doing, there is no way of knowing to which house you'll surly be going,_

_ You might find you're friends in Hufflepuff where loyalty is treasured most, Or perhaps your mind wants learning, in which you'll belong in Ravenclaw, Or maybe Slytherin is where you fit, those cunning witty few, Or yet your bravery and chivalry make Gryffindor suit you,_

_ So don't be shy, just come right up, and let me think it through, for I'm the one and only hat, with the job of sorting you."_

Professor McGonagall proceeded to open a roll of parchment that dropped down to the floor and bounced a bit before coming to a halt. She then cleared her throat and looked at the crowd of new faces. "When I call out your name, you will come up and sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." She said motioning to the old hat which had closed its mouth and was looking around at the new group of students. "Then you will join your houses at their respective tables." She nodded towards the four groups. "While you are here, your house will be like your family. You can earn or lose points for your house by breaking rules or performing exemplary in classes. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup."

James, Remus, and Sirius all exchanged nervous glances. "I hope we all end up in the same house." Sirius said, seeming to have ignored the last part of what McGonagall had said. Remus looked at him strangely. For a moment Sirius was afraid that Remus had thought better of his alliance with Sirius and was going to cut ties with him. Not that he could blame him if he did, with a family like his, he was especially surprised that James had talked to him for this long. James also came from a well known wizarding family of pure bloods, but he doubted that James' family looked down on _him_ and scrutinized everything _he_ said. "Right?" Sirius added, catching the look on Remus' face. Remus nodded eagerly before plastering a giant smile on his face. All nerves Sirius had harbored about coming to the school melted away. He was here, he had friends, and he was going to be fine.

"Definitely." James said throwing an arm around both Sirius and Remus. Sirius relished in the affection and acceptance.

"Abdulle, Emma-Lea." Professor McGonagall called. A short round girl walked up to stool slowly and allowed McGonagall to place the hat on her head. After a few seconds of contemplation, the hat shouted out, "Ravenclaw!" The girl smiled and walked briskly towards the table of blue where her new house was cheering for her.

"Avery, Charles." A stocky boy with dark brown hair walked up and was sorted into Slytherin almost as soon as the hat was set upon his head. After Charles joined the Slytherin table, McGonagall called up a pair of blonde twins, Carlee and Ella, who where both sorted into Gryffindor.

"Black, Sirius."

Sirius' face drained of all color before James gave him a nudge, "Fifth in line. There could have been a few more 'a's." He said causing James to chuckle and then he went up to sit on the stool.

The hat came down over his head and started talking in his ear. "Ahh!" It whispered in a knowing voice. "Another Black. Well, I know where to put you."

"No!" Sirius said in a voice a bit louder then a whisper. James and Remus narrowed their eyes in confusion.

"No?" The hat asked. "You do not want to be in the house all of your ancestors were in? You do not wish to try and make your mother proud of you? No you don't, I see it all. You do not agree with them and the pure blood lust. You are different. You aspire to be good. Well then, I suppose you ought to go to… GRYFFINDOR!" The hat roared for the whole hall to hear and the Gryffindor table burst into applause. But not even they could drown out James' cheering as he watched his new friend go and sit at the table he planned to join. Sirius could do nothing but grin at everyone.

After that, Lilly Evans, Savanna House, Coral Green, Orian Buckle, Ian Bones, Frank Longbottom and Stephen Jones were all put in Gryffindor. Goyal and Henson were both put in Slytherin, and then it was Remus' turn. His name was called and he glanced at James before hopping up to the stool much more bravely then most of his previous classmates. He thought that if he acted brave the hat might be fooled and put him in Gryffindor.

When the hat was placed on his head he was shocked to find it whispering in his ear. "Well this is different, a Werewolf at Hogwarts. Of course, that information is almost meaningless when it comes to placing you. Almost…" The hat was silent for a moment as it looked at the contents of Remus' head. "You are much braver then you think, not many boys your age would be able to go through what you do and still be so pure of heart. I know exactly where you belong. Yes Remus, you _belong_ in… GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus silently thanked the hat before gently handing it back to Professor McGonagall and then he ran down the steps and towards the cheering table, he could hear James and Sirius and knew that he was going to really like it here. When he reached the table, Sirius grabbed one of his hands and pulled him into a one armed hug. Then they sat down and eagerly waited the sorting of the third member of their group. But a different boy by the name of Peter joined them just before James was called up to the stool. Professor McGonagall barely placed the hat on his head before it shouted out in a loud clear voice, "GRYFFINDOR!" James jumped down the stairs, almost forgetting to take the sorting hat off of his head, and happily joined the table of his cheering housemates.

The rest of the sorting passed and quietly and only a few more people joined the Gryffindor table and the boys would clap when they heard the others around them clapping, but they were already immersed in conversation about what they were going to do this coming year. James and Sirius seemed to be quite the trouble makers, and Remus wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with that, but he wasn't going to bow out now that he was in. He had friends and if they wanted him to be a look out will they took off all the toilet seats in the girls' bathroom, then he could do that.

After the sorting was done, Dumbledore stood up and announced that the feast would now begin. And suddenly there was more food on the tables then the three boys had seen in their entire lives. Mounds of chicken, mash potatoes, corn, muffins, rolls, and other food they didn't know the names of, were stacked miles high and surrounded by pitchers filled with every kind of liquid possible. Sirius looked like a kid in a candy store and instantly started reaching for some of everything, quickly filling his plate.

"Hungry?"

"Nah, I'm Sirius. People get us confused all the time." Sirius said glancing quickly at James before grabbing more food. James started laughing along with Remus. "See! I knew I was funny!"

"Hysterical, mate." James said picking up his fork and attacking his plate. They scarffed down their food in silence for a few minutes before they spotted a white figure floating threw the table.

"Oh! It's the ghost of Gryffindor, my dad told me about him. He's nearly headless Nick." James said as the ghost floated in to hearing range.

"Please. I prefer Sir Nicolas."

"Wait," Remus said scratching his head. "Why did he call you nearly headless?" Sirius looked at the ghost and was confused as well. Sir Nicolas' head was clearly all there.

"Because, when I was executed, they didn't chop it off all the way. See?" He said as he grabbed his hair and pulled his head to the right and revealing the inside of his neck which would be bleeding profusely had he been alive. Sirius and Remus made faces and looked away, but James just kept looking at him politely. Sir Nicolas replaced his head and floated away.

"That was gross. Doesn't he know that we're trying to eat?" Sirius said with his mouth already full of food.

"Yes, he sure did put a damper to your appetite." Remus said rolling his eyes. Sirius laughed and shoved him. A while later they finished there feast and were called out of the great hall by a Gryffindor prefect.

"Come along 1st years. You will notice that the staircases seem to have a mind of their own…" But his voice trailed of as James, Sirius, and Remus slowed down as to be at the back of the group.

"There had to be a million stair cases." Sirius said looking up with aw.

"Just over 200 actually." Remus said quietly, also looking up.

"Yeah, great, stairs." James said looking around at the walls. Then with much more enthusiasm he added, "My dad said that there are secret passages all over the castle."

"Really?" Sirius asked dropping his gaze from the stairs to the walls.

"Yeah. This castle is really old; nobody knows all of its secrets." James said in a tone that was very matter-o-factly.

When they reached the 7th floor the prefect stopped them in front of a large portrait of an older lady that was a bit large, dressed in a toga, and holding an empty glass. By the way she seemed to be teetering; the glass was only recently emptied.

"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room." The prefect announced to the group of 1st years who were looking around for a door, and when they found none, they looked up at the elder student with doubt etched into their still eager faces. "Alihotsy." The prefect said to the picture.

"Very well Miles." The women in the picture frame said with a smile. "Hope you enjoy, new ones." She smiled down before swinging forward and revealing a tunnel that led to a warmly lit room full of couches and arm chairs, tables, and desks. There was a fire on the right wall with a few couches pushed around it and on the far wall were two staircases. Once all the students were in the room, Miles turned to them and spoke again.

"This is the common room. The girls' dormitories are on the right, boys on the left. If you have any questions, you can come find me or one of the other prefects. Breakfast starts tomorrow at 7 and runs until 9, which is when classes start. Schedules will be passed out tomorrow morning. See you then." And with that he turned on his heel to join a group of 6th years that were waiting patiently at the edge of the port hole.

"Well, this is it." James said once they were all in their dorm room. There were 9 canopy beds set up and the rest of the first year boys were unpacking, same and James, Sirius, and Remus. They had taken the beds on the far wall at the end of the room. The room was set up so that there were three beds on each wall. Peter and Frank were nearest to them. Peter seemed to be really quiet and nervous, but Frank was chatting away with most of the other boys.

"My parents are going to be so pleased that I got put into Gryffindor." Frank said. "My whole family has been in Gryffindor since the school was founded practically."

"Yeah?" Sirius asked. "Well my family has always been in Slytherin. My parents are going to be bloody pissed when they find out."

"Your family was all in Slytherin?" Peter asked, a bit frightened.

"Yes." Sirius said, sounding a bit ashamed.

"But you got put in Gryffindor. Must mean that you are the first decent bloke in your family." James said clapping Sirius on the back. Everyone in the room laughed. Even as first years, they had already fallen into the predetermined roles as Gryffindors, of hating the Slytherin house.

"The sad thing is you think you're joking." Sirius said with a grateful smirk. "Well, actually I have this one uncle that is pretty decent." He added as an after thought. The boys all laughed again. "But of course, my mother won't admit to being related to him anymore." More laughter followed.

"Well, welcome to the light side." A boy on the other side of the room said pulling off his robes and grabbing a pair of pajamas out of his trunk.

"Why thank you." Sirius said in mock seriousness putting his hand over his chest, causing them all to laugh again. But in all honesty, he really was glad that he was here.

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><p><strong>AN: The next chapter is probably going to pick up here in the dorm. I want to introduce all the other boys. I am going to try and throw in a few familiar names. And Frank is Frank Longbottom. Please review! <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here is chapter three! If you want me to put somebody into the story, go ahead and tell me. I will do my best. **

**Chapter Three: Werewolves and Quidditch **

"Okay. I need to know everybody's name." James said as he put up a poster of the tornadoes Quidditch team. "I am James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin."

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Frank Longbottem."

"Orian Buckle."

"Stephen Jones."

"Carl Williams."

"Ian Bones." They all called out from their recently claimed beds.

"Cool, nice to meet all of you." James said plopping down on the end of his bed. Remus marveled at how easy it was for him to talk to people he just met. "9 of us this year. That's a pretty good size." Everyone nodded and looked around, taking each other in.

"So," Sirius said pulling some Bert's every flavor beans out of his trunk and taking a seat next to James. "Before James starts talking about Quidditch, who has dirt on the teachers?"

"Well," Orian said from the bed closest to the door. "My dad said that the history of magic teacher is just dreadful. Professor Binns, my dad said that he wasn't sure if he knew that he was dead or not." Some of the boys snickered.

"W-wait! Our teacher is d-d-dead?" Peter asked pulling his hands up to cover his mouth.

"Well yeah. He is a ghost." Orian said rolling his eyes at the frightened boy.

"My older brother says that Professor Flitwick is one of his favorites." Ian said steering the conversation back towards its main goal.

"The head of Ravenclaw?" Frank asked, "The one that is barley two feet tall?" Sirius snickered.

"That would be him." Ian nodded.

"And McGonagall seems a bit strict, don't you think?" Carl asked jumping up and down on one foot, while he struggled to get his foot into a sock.

"Yep. Always has been." James said. "That's what dad said any way. But he didn't have her as a teacher; he went to school with her. My dads a little old. But some family friends told me that she lets you off easy if you're in Gryffindor."

"Cool." A few of the boys said in unison. There was a lull in the conversation while the boys finished getting their night things on.

"Can somebody explain some things to me?" Carl asked. Some of them nodded. "I am a muggle born, so today is, literally, the most magical day of my life. Firstly, does it make any difference being muggle born?"

"Nope"'s, "No."'s, and "Deffinatlally not."s rang through out the room. Sirius shook his head tentatively and mentally kicked himself as he went through what his mother would say if she saw him now. He shouldn't care what she would think, he was different, and that is why he was in Gryffindor, in a tower. Instead of in the dungeons with the Slytherins.

"Are you the only one in here?" James asked looking around.

"Well, I am half and half. My Mum's a muggle, and my pops a wizard." Stephen said shrugging. "So I know about both worlds."

"Me too." Remus said from his bed next to James'.

"Yeah, well I am completely clueless about the magical world." Carl said sighing. "I can't believe that this is really happening. I'm still afraid that I am going to wake up at home in my bed and this will all have been just a dream." Remus nodded in agreement. He could relate on a different level. He kept thinking that he was going to wake up and realize that he wasn't allowed to come to Hogwarts and that he was going to have to stay home.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed out loud. "But I doubt your previously muggle mind could come up with all of this without it being real."

"I guess." Carl said scrunching his brow together.

"No really. Do you know what a Hungarian Horntail is? Or a bowtruckle?"

"No."

"Do you usually come up with fake words in your dreams?"

"No." Carl said smiling. "What are they any way?"

"The bowtruckle is a type of woodland creature who lives in trees that make good wands. And a Horntail is a dragon." Remus said finding something that he could add. He was trying to mimic James and Sirius' behavior when it came to social interactions. "The most aggressive kind of dragon too."

"There are dragons?" Carl said as his voice rose two octaves.

"Of course. There is also Giants." James smirked.

"And vampires." Sirius added.

"And werewolves." Remus said, trying to say the word with a sense of normalcy.

"And three headed dogs, mermaids that will rip you apart-"James said watching the boy's eyes grow wider and wider.

"Giant spiders, snakes as fat as trees and as tall as buildings." Sirius said trying not to laugh as Peter climbed under his blankets and put his pillow over his head.

"And unicorns." Remus added, making James and Sirius laugh, some of the others as well. Remus looked around and felt his cheeks burn up. He hadn't said it to be funny; he was just listing magical creatures. But it felt good to make them laugh, even if it hadn't been intentional.

"You guys are pulling my leg." Carl said at last. "Werewolves and mermaids? Really?"

"Nice how those are the two that he thinks unbelievable." Sirius said. "Don't they make muggle children's stories about mermaids?"

"Yeah, but they are nice and kind in those stories." Remus said.

"They aren't kidding." Frank said throwing a glare at James, Sirius, and Remus. "But the ministry of Magic has departments that protect us from all of them. Except the unicorns. They are harmless." Frank said still glaring at the three at the end of the room.

"Yeah, don't worry about them." James said calming down, now ready to undo what he had just done. "Werewolves and Vampires keep to themselves as far as I know. Giants live in the mountains where the ministry has people keep an eye on them, same with dragons, and as for the rest of them, well you won't find them wandering around the school any way."

"Well, aren't there mer-people in the black lake?" Sirius asked throwing his head back and tossing a bean in.

"Yeah, but they don't hurt students do they?" Ian said. "Otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't let them stay there."

"Dumbledore wouldn't let anything near the school if it was a threat to the students." Orian said surly. Remus wasn't so sure, but he kept his mouth shut.

"So you've never accidentally ran in to a werewolf or something?" Carl asked looking around the room. Remus froze, he didn't like where this was headed. He started chewing on his cheek and looked around the room to gauge everyone's reactions.

"No." Everyone said. Remus shook his head. After all, it wasn't really a lie. "Very unlucky if you did though." Stephen said thoughtfully. Carl leaned forward.

"What do you mean?"

"Well. You either get eaten alive, or you get bit and then you turn into a werewolf yourself. And there is no cure for a werewolf bite."

"Nasty creatures too." Ian added.

"Not all of them are evil." James said defiantly. "People don't normally ask to get bit."

"Well have you ever seen a werewolf in a common place like Diagon ally or here even?" Ian countered, Orian nodded in agreement.

"I would hope not." Peter cowered from under his sheets. The boys ignored him.

"Ever hang out with one? Bet your parents invite them over all the time right?" Orian added sarcastically.

"Well, with all the predigest against them I should think not." Sirius said to Ian pouring the last of his beans into his palm and offering some to James. "And it's kind of like the whole pure blood lust." He said to Orian. "You either care or you don't."

"It's nothing like that!" Ian shouted getting up off his bed.

"And how would you know if you've met a werewolf or not?" Sirius said looking at Ian. "Unless you run into one on the full moon, you wouldn't know. It's not like they walk around with signs on their necks that say 'Hey look at me, I am a werewolf!'"

"Fine, but it's still nothing like the pure blood thing. Werewolf are, by nature, mean, lying, deceitful creatures. It's a fact. It's not like the pure blood thing." Ian said again, as if trying to make sure he was in the right.

"No?" James asked inspecting one of the beans he took from Sirius before putting it in his mouth carefully. "So you're not being judging people by something they can't change? You aren't deciding a whole band of people are bad just because they aren't like you?" Remus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had managed to find the two kids in the school who would still talk to him if they found out. That or they were arguing simply for the sake of arguing.

"So you would be okay with meeting a werewolf?" Orian challenged. James smiled up at him.

"Sure." He shrugged. Remus just about choked. "As long as it's not during the full moon. I don't have a death wish." Sirius nodded. Ian and Orian looked at them like he was sure that they were joking. "Any other questions Carl?" James said turning to face Carl.

"Nope." Carl said pulling his sheets back and lying down. "If I do, I am not sure if I will be asking the three of you." He said eyeing James, Sirius, and Remus.

"They are full of it." Ian said before pulling back his own covers and getting into bed again. Orian grunted in agreement.

"They aren't dangerous unless in their wolf form, otherwise they are just ordinary people. So I would not be any more against meeting a werewolf then any other person." Sirius said. "Actually I think that I would prefer a werewolf to most members of my family. In wolf form to." James chuckled. "Again, you think that I am joking." Sirius sighed.

"I am sure that you aren't." James said with mock seriousness clapping a hand on Sirius' back.

"Just wait until, well no. Don't wait. Hopefully you will never have the displeasure of meeting my family." The look from the train was coming over him again. James was starting to think that Sirius' family actually had problems. He had, of course, heard of the Black family, and their love of pure blood wizards, and had never actually heard anything nice about them, but that didn't make them worse then a werewolf.

"Black, right?" Stephen said from his bed. Sirius nodded. "Any relation to Bellatrix and Naricissa?"

"Unfortunately." He muttered. "But tell anyone, and you die." He said with a glint in his eye.

"Scouts honor." He said holding up two fingers.

"What?" Sirius said looking at him confused.

"Muggle saying. It's a promise." Carl said smiling, glad he knew something they didn't.

"Well, I think that we should turn in." Frank said looking down at his wrist watch. "We have class tomorrow, and we don't want to be tiered." The boys nodded in agreement for the most part, but Sirius and James didn't move from the end of James' bed.

"We didn't even talk about Quidditch." James pouted.

"We'll get there eventually mate." Sirius said standing up.

"What's Quidditch?" Carl asked pronouncing the word as though it were dangerous. James made an odd chocking sound and Sirius just pushed him down into his bed.

"Let it go mate, we can introduce him to the wonderful world of Quidditch tomorrow." Sirius said laughing at his friend.

"But, it's Quidditch. How does he- and it- I mean-"

"Let it go." Sirius said again. James seemed to give up and fell back into his bed.

"Fine." James sighed, rolling over so that he was at the top of his bed. Some of the other boys laughed as James continued to mutter to himself as he beat in his pillow. Sirius just shook his head and walked towards his own bed. Once Sirius was in bed, they turned off the light and drifted to sleep rather quickly for their first night at Hogwarts.

Remus was the last to sleep, as he replayed the conversation they had just had in his head for near an hour after everyone else was asleep. He couldn't believe what they had said. He was used to Ian and Orian's behavior when it came to people's opinions on what he was, but he was beside himself that there were actually people besides Dumbledore, who thought differently. The two boys who he had met on the train and at first wanted to leave, now meant more to him then they would ever know. He was going to make sure that their friendship lasted. He needed friends, especially friends who held no predigest.

**AN: Oakie Dokie, that one was a shorty. Kinda. Just wanted to introduce the boys to you. And if you are wondering why there are so many of them, it is because J.K. Rowling said that there are about 600 students at Hogwarts, and that means about 22 in each house for each year, split between girls and boys makes it about 11, but it doesn't work out perfectly all the time. She then said that Harry's year was small because she only made 40 characters for his year, which is half the size it should be for there to be 600 kids at Hogwarts. Hope I didn't lose any of you there, that was sort of confusing and I don't want to re-read it. Please continue to read and review. Thanks a bunch and I hope you enjoyed. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Here is chapter 4! Thank you to all who have been reading my story, I really do appreciate it. :D**

**Chapter 4: Spilled ink and missing Eyebrows**

The next morning James woke up to when the sun was shining through the slit in the curtains around his bed. He groaned and rolled over before remembering where he was and that he had his first day of school at Hogwarts awaiting him. He suddenly found himself wide awake.

He drew open his curtains and saw that he was the first one up. He pulled his p.j.'s off and pulled his robes out. He was thrilled to see that they were newly embroidered with the Gryffindors colors and letter. He was struggling with his tie when the curtains around the bed next to James were pulled open to reveal an excited and slightly disheveled Remus.

"Good morning." James said cheerfully. Remus' nodded. James could tell just by looking at him that he was nervous. He was shaking slightly and looking at the ground. "This is going to be great, yeah?" Remus nodded again, still not looking at James. "Oh come on mate. What's the problem?" Remus' head snapped up and he looked James in the eyes. He looked vulnerable. James shifted uncomfortably, momentarily giving up on his tie.

"What if they don't li-" Remus stopped mid word and looked back at the floor. He wasn't about to make himself look like even more of a loon. James thought he knew what Remus was going to say. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous about being liked, but still, he wasn't going to make fun of him when he looked like he did. They were friends too, even if only for a day now.

"Don't worry about it. People will like you. Sirius and I like you." Remus looked back at James and smiled. That seemed to do it. Remus visibly relaxed and hopped out of bed.

"I didn't do it!" Sirius suddenly shouted angrily from inside his bed. James and Remus looked over at the bed alarmed. It was silent for a moment before the curtains were pulled open and Sirius smiled at them sheepishly. "Sorry. Reflex. Thought I was still at home for a moment there."

"Alrightly then." James laughed, pulling his tie down and then shoving the end of it down his shirt. It looked right to him any way. He then waited for Remus and Sirius to get dressed before they all headed off to the great hall for breakfast. They found the four tables, once again, full of all sorts of food. Of course it wasn't as extravagant as it had been at the feast last night, but it was still great.

"Are we going to get to eat like this every morning?" Sirius asked openly gawking at the food as they walked toward the Gryffindor table.

"Yes Mr. Black, you are. We like our students to be substantially fed before we fill there minds as well." Professor McGonagall said causing them all to jump slightly. "Here are your class schedules. Do try to get to your classes on time boys. Points are taken for tardiness and I like seeing my house win the cup. Kapeash?"

"Umm…" Sirius finally nodded and McGonagall walked away. James and Remus had already taken a seat and were looking at their schedules that she had handed them. Sirius took at seat and pulled a plate over, disregarding his schedule.

"Looks like a nice Monday. We have Herbology with Ravenclaw, History of Magic with Hufflepuff, and then double transfigurations with Slytherin. That one should be interesting."

"Always is when you get a class with Slytherin and you have McGonagall or Slughorn." Said an older student. "They both pretend not to favor their own students, but they do. McGonagall more then Slughorn. He just picks favorites. Doesn't care what house they are in. Then he gets them together for parties and dinner and such. Calls it the slug club."

"Oh?" Remus said putting his schedule aside and filling up his plate.

"You think I am joking. He doesn't even bother to remember people's names unless he thinks they are going to become famous later in life. He has been calling me Tumbletin and Tummy for 5 years now."

"What's your name?" James asked pulling a plate close to him..

"Richard Smith." The boy scoffed. They all laughed. They ate the rest of their breakfast and then walked back up the Gryffindor tower to get their books that they would need and then made their way out to the green houses.

The Ravenclaws were all huddled in one big group in the back of the green house, where as the Gryffindors were spread out a bit more and a few of them were trying to make conversation with the Ravenclaws. James could hear Carl trying to ask about some of the plants. "I was reading our text book and it says that some of the plants can attack us. This isn't true is it? I mean, they are just plants, right?" James' didn't hear the response but laughed at him just the same. He had only meant to have a little fun, but it seemed as though they had really scared him. Carl would get over it eventually; otherwise, James was going to have a lot of fun with him.

Soon professor Sprout, appropriately named James thought, walked in with a little green plant looking hat on her head, instead of the normal black witch's hat, and told the class to quiet down, which they did so quite quickly.

"Now we aren't going to be dealing with anything dangerous for quite some time, but we are going to be learning about devils snare today. It is nasty little buggier and appears to be completely harmless. Does anyone know what Devils snare does?" A few hands shot up. Sprout called on a red headed Gryffindor. "Name dearie?"

"Lily Evans. Devil's snare will attack a person if you touch it. It will wrap its vines around a person or object that it can reach, and the more you struggle to get away the tighter it squeezes. Its enemy is the sun or light if you will." She finished. Professor Sprout nodded and gave her a bright smile.

"That is absolutely correct Miss Evans. 10 points to Gryffindor." James smirked as he noticed that a few of the Ravenclaws looked much put out that they were not getting the points. After all, their house was known for their intelligence and they had been beaten by the brawny house in the very first class.

Sprout went on about devils snare until the end of class and told them that by the end of the week they would get to work with it before dismissing the class and leaving a much shaken Carl to worry about the days to come in Herbology.

"Calm down Carl. She wouldn't let us do anything that could get us seriously hurt." Frank said as they walked up to the castle to go to History of Magic.

"But you heard what Lilly said. I does hurt people." Carl said pointing at that back of the red head.

"Well, you are going to have to trust that the teacher knows what she is doing and that you will be safe." Frank sighed in an exasperated fashion. Carl looked as if he was going to protest again but Frank shrugged and then walked ahead of Carl so that he could catch up with Stephen.

"I don't know Carl." James said slyly. "It is going to be awful hard for her to watch everyone at once. Something could happen." He looked at Remus and Sirius for back up, Sirius gave it to him.

"Yeah, you might want to get a seat right next to her from now on. Just in case." He said biting his bottom lip to prevent a laugh from escaping.

"Yeah. Probably." Carl muttered and then ran ahead to walk with Ian and Orian. James and Sirius laughed as soon as he was out of ear shot.

"Maybe you guys should let up a bit. This is all new for him." Remus said quietly.

"We're just having a bit of fun." Sirius shrugged. Remus looked down at the ground.

"But he's right; don't want to beat a dead horse." James said aware of how Remus was feeling. "Besides, it's not as if the bloke is in Slytherin."

"Yeah, alright." Sirius agreed grudgingly. "But what are we going to do now?"

"I am sure we will think of something." James smiled.

History of Magic turned out to be a real boring class. Professor Binns lectured the whole hour, starting and ending when the bells rang. But the Hufflepuffs had acted the same way the Ravenclaws had. When they entered the room, they were all huddled together in a corner.

"Is it just me, or do we seem like the only house open to inter-house relationships?" Sirius asked as they all took their seat. James nodded in agreement, Remus too. "Let's just hope the Slytherins keep this up."

"That seems like to much to hope for." James snickered.

"There is nothing wrong with the people in Slytherin. You don't even know them." The red head Lily said with a voice that let them know she disapproved of their predigest.

"Well, I have never heard of a decent bloke who was in Slytherin. You?" James said crossing his arm.

"My best friend is in Slytherin." She said glaring at him.

"Then you need to rethink your choice in friends." Sirius muttered and James and Remus laughed. She glared at them before choosing a seat on the other side of the room.

After History of Magic, they all went down to the great hall for lunch. They were rather quiet as they walked, seeing as how sitting through Professor Binns' class was rather like being hypnotized into a sleepy stupor. Though they quickly woke up after getting some food and drink into their systems.

Shortly after they finished their lunches, the whole Gryffindor class of first years was walking to transfigurations when something sort of opaque shot out of some empty classroom and started throwing things at their heads.

"Hello my little newbie Gryffindors firsties!" The thing shouted rather unnecessarily loudly, swooping down and knocking into them all as it yelled. He then made a grab at James' bag and dumped the contents out before finding what he wanted. He proceeded to pour a new bottle of ink all over Carl and Ian. Ian's blond hair was splattered with black and it was dripping down his nose and onto his book. Carl's black hair hid the ink better, but he had looked up and his whole face had turned black. The looks on their faces were that of pure indignation.

"Peeve!" McGonagall shouted coming round the corner.

"Yes McGonnie-goo!" He tried to throw something at her but with a flick of her wand, the empty ink bottle disappeared. Carl, Lily, and a few others were very impressed with the small magical display.

"Do you want me to go and get Professor Dumbledore?" A bit of fear crossed his face, but then he laughed and just bounce away down the hall. "This way students. I am sorry about him." She didn't seem to notice that two of the students were covered in ink. Until Carl started trying to wipe the ink away and his peers started giggling, she turned around and sighed. With another wave of her wand, the ink vanished and the boys were set to rights again. Then she turned to lead the class away.

James quickly refilled his bag with the help of Remus and Sirius and then they jogged a bit to catch up with the rest of the class.

They followed her down the corridor until they reached her classroom, which smelled pleasant despite the fact that the walls were lined with animals in cages. There was everything from mice, to pigs. The Slytherins were already seated on one side of the room so that there was only one empty seat on there side and there were no stragglers on the other side of the room, this made Sirius rolled his eyes, but James simply shrugged. He didn't care if they all wanted to sit away from the Gryffindors. He preferred it that way actually.

The one Slytherin that was sitting alone was motioning to somebody near James. He looked around, hoping the kid wasn't motioning to him. He was not somebody James wanted to talk to, let alone sit near. The boy had shoulder length black hair that looked as though it had never been washed and dipped in grease, he was smiling but it looked wrong on his naturally crude face. He was missing the quality that well cared for children have naturally. It was almost a bit unnerving looking at him. Lily smiled brightly at him and walked over to sit next to him. James openly gawked and Sirius caught onto what he was staring at. Though he didn't stay quiet.

"_He's_ your friend?" Sirius asked with disbelief dipping off every word.

"Yes." Lily said in a forced decorous voice, pulling her book out of her bag and putting it on the desk in front of her.

"But how could _you _be friends with-"

"I would stop there if I were you." Lily said loosing all air of being polite and looking Sirius in the eye. He did stop mid sentence, but then he laughed.

"I don't quiet get it either." James said thoughtfully looking between Lily and the Slytherin. The boy glared at him and stood up. Lily shot a hand out in front of him.

"No Sev, sit down. They will get what's coming to them." Lily said pulling on his robes.

"Was that supposed to be a threat?" Sirius said snidely.

"No, it was more of a promise." She said. Sirius laughed and moved off to find somewhere to sit, Remus following in suit.

"Just be careful his hair doesn't touch you." James said in a serious tone before turning around to follow his friends to their seats. He heard Lily scoff but that only made him smile.

"Settle down class!" McGonagall called from the front of the room. She had her wand out again and looked as though she was ready to start the class. The all found seats near each other, though Remus ended up sitting next to Peter and in front of James and Sirius.

This was the first class where they were all able to attempt to do magic for the first time. They were starting with, what McGonagall called, 'The simple task of turning water to rum.' Though, an hour into class, no one had yet been able to achieve this 'simple task'.

"So if we do turn the water to rum," Sirius said flicking his wand as his glass lazily, and looking up at McGonagall. "Do we get to drink it?" She shook her head and then pretended that she hadn't heard him at all. James laughed and turned around to face Remus.

"Any luck?" He asked peering into Remus' glass.

"Nope." He said popping the p. "Still water." Suddenly there was a small explosion from the seat next to him. They looked over to Peters face black with ash and his cup shattered. McGonagall seemed unfazed as she stood up and walked over to clean up the mess.

"There is always one." She muttered under her breath. "Well, you didn't hurt yourself, and your eyebrows will grow back in time." James was about to laugh when the entire Slytherin side busted up. Suddenly, James found the incident not humorous at all; Sirius and Remus seemed to be sharing his feelings.

"Knock it off." James said standing up. Peter cowered even more then normal. The Slytherins gave him no notice.

"Yeah, I would like to see you do any better." Sirius called out. Lily looked, for a moment, as though she was going to tell Severus to stop laughing but didn't when she realized who was sticking up for Peter. She rolled her eyes and went back to practicing the spell.

"I think we already did better just by not blowing our faces up." One of the boys said with a sneer.

"Yeah, and it's not like any of you can do it any way." Another boy said, with the same pinched face as the first. "But as you can see, all of us Slytherins still have our eyebrows."

"Okay students, that is enough." McGonagall said sternly. "I will not have student mocking each other in my class, get back to work."

"Really?" James said sitting back down and ignoring McGonagall's warning. "You guys think you're better then us?" Sirius gave a harsh bark of laughter before picking up his wand. In unison James and Sirius said the spell and flicked their wands at their glasses. The water turned to a brownish, amber color and they both smirked before picking up the glasses, clinking them together and taking a sip. The Slytherins pretended not to notice and didn't say anything any more.

"Very good boys." McGonagall said, nodding approvingly at her students. "5 points a piece to Gryffindor." The Slytherins weren't so quiet about their protest but nobody minded now that Gryffindor had won, even Lily told Severus to stop being a poor sport.

"They did the spell correctly, I don't see why they shouldn't be rewarded, now stop whining." She said turning away from him and trying the spell again.

"But- They- Didn't you hear them?" Severous asked shocked.

"Yes, they were sticking up for a friend when those boys up there were picking on him. There was nothing wrong with what they did." She said fiercely. "You would stick up for me if people had been laughing at me right?" She asked with a fiery look in her eyes.

"Yes, of course, but-"

"But nothing. You are making a big deal out of nothing." She sighed and then turned back to her glass of water.

By the end of class, most of the Gryffindors had been able to achieve the task and only a handful of Slytherins. The Gryffindors cheered each other on after someone achieved their goal, but the Slytherins just scowled at each other. More upset that somebody else had achieved what they hadn't then the fact that somebody from their house had succeeded. That was one of the major differences between the two houses.

When James, Remus, and Sirius left the classroom, the found that Peter was tagging along beside them. They didn't take much notice and James and Sirius continued to relive their moment of glory as they all made their way down to dinner.

**AN: I hope you liked it! Remember that all reviews are appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my story! :D I know that I wrote the same thing at the top, but I really do love you guys for reading this and reviewing. 3 Oh, and this is my longest chapter to date, just throwing that out there. :P**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here is chapter 5, I hope you like it. :D**

**Chapter 5: A Little Slip of the hand**

The three of them sat next to Peter that night at dinner.

Remus found that he sort of liked the boy, but also didn't quite understand why he cowered away from everything that moved, and found it a bit annoying. Sirius, on the other hand, found this hilarious and spent much of dinner seeing what he could do to scare him. James found this amusing and laughed along with Sirius, but he didn't really like Peter.

But Peter stuck with them and soon became a member of their group.

The next day, James found out that the Gryffindor Quidditch trials were coming up. He was really excited and spent almost every waking moment talking about it, and trying to get Remus and Sirius to agree to go out to the pitch with him. He finally succeeded after lessons, he even got Sirius and Remus to help him practice, but Peter remained firm on his decline to go up into the air.

"I would just fall anyway. I wouldn't be any help to you." He said kicking his foot in the dirt.

"Well, if you're sure." James said not wanting to waste time he could be up in the air, arguing with Peter.

They had gone out to the pitch right after classes had ended and they would probably be there until it was dinner time. James was a real good flyer, and so was Sirius, but Remus hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

"Well, now I can see why you got those scars." Sirius laughed. Remus' face went white and he almost fell of his broom. He couldn't really know, he thought to himself, gripping the broom handle with a bit more force, causing his knuckles to go white in the effort.

"What do you mean?" He asked trying to remain calm. There was no way that they would have figured it out. They couldn't know. And even if they did, why would Sirius bring it up now? Why would Sirius even be talking to him, or any where near him.

"You are a pretty awful flyer." Sirius laughed, flying up next to him.

"Yeah. And…" Remus said, waiting for him to continue.

"You said you fell of your broom. That's how you got the scars, right?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"Well, yeah." Remus said quickly, remembering that he had told James and Sirius that on the train. Sirius wasn't laughing any more though.

"That is what happened, isn't it?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah." Remus said. "Just forgot I told you." Sirius nodded, accepting this answer. "And I am not that bad." Remus said, trying to change the subject. It worked, Sirius laughed again.

"Are you kidding? You almost fall off your broom every time you move!"

"HEY!" James yelled from the other side of the pitch. "YOU GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ME!"

"RIGHT, SORRY MATE!" Sirius shouted back.

They almost ended up being late for dinner because James wouldn't get off his broom and then, when he finally did get off his broom, he spotted an oddly behaving tree and wanted to go check it out, but Sirius won the argument in the end by snatching James' broom from him and running towards the castle with it.

"I just wanted to look at it." James muttered sitting down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later. Remus had been extra quiet while James had been discussing the tree, though no one really seemed to notice.

"Yeah, and then you would want to throw the ball one more time." Sirius laughed grabbing the nearest food and shoving it into him mouth before sitting down next to James.

"And then that one more time, would turn into another 50 times and we would have missed dinner. I don't think Sirius could have handled that." Remus said after he took his seat a crossed from James, and Peter a crossed from Sirius.

"And lets face it mate, I don't think our friendship could have handled that either." Sirius said with a sad look on his face. James laughed and shoved Sirius.

"Hey!" Lily said. She just happened to be sitting on the other side of Sirius, and he bumped her when James pushed him. "Watch it!"

"Sorry." Sirius laughed.

"I don't think it's that funny actually." She said disapprovingly.

"I said sorry, I didn't mean to bump you. Calm down alright." Lily huffed and then turned her back on them, going back to her conversation with a blonde haired girl none of them new the name of. "There is a bit of a temper on that one." Sirius scoffed turning back towards the other three boys. James grunted in agreement and Remus nodded. Peter nodded as well, but a bit to vigorously and the pumpkin juice he was drinking shook from his cup and he spilled some of it down his front. He looked around frantically, a look of panic etched on his face. There was a few seconds of silence before the boys erupted into laughter.

All of the boys were all getting ready in their dorm later that night when Remus had his first panic attack. It happened as he was leaning down into his trunk, digging through it for a night shirt. Ian and Carl were arguing with James about something or another and James seemed to be making a very good point. The other boys in the dorm, were content on watching the three in the middle of the room, even Sirius didn't feel the need to voice his opinion. Remus though, wasn't really paying attention to anything that was going on behind him. He was more preoccupied with how he had managed to fuss up his trunk so badly already.

"-and all in all, I think it would work." Remus tuned in as James closed his argument with gusto. Carl scoffed, looking up at Ian for back-up, but Ian's face was somber.

"That's codswalup. Right?" Carl asked, the unfamiliar slang falling clumsily off his tongue.

"Actually…"Ian said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and uncrossing his arms. "It's bloody brilliant." His face broke into a smile and he went over and slung an arm around James. "I can't believe I ever doubted you. With the full moon tomorrow, it should go off with out a hitch." Remus froze.

"That's what I have been trying to tell you!" James sighed falling down on Sirius' bed. "Sirius helped with the mechanics of course, but the general scheme was my idea." Sirius nodded knowingly. "And that's why I want to do it tomorrow. The full moon is what makes it so brilliant."

Remus couldn't believe it. How could he have been so stupid? He had forgotten that the full moon was tomorrow. This was a grave mistake; this was a mistake that he could not afford to make.

Remus had a secret. A secret that made his home life lonesome, made him and his family outcasts and almost prevented him from coming to school at all. His secret was kept with the utmost caution, everything about what he said to people had to be double checked before he let the words slip out of his mouth; he had to form his sentences in his head before he could comfortably say anything. He had never had friends because of his secret, never thought that he would be able to have friends. And now that he did, it was hard for him to believe that they would be around for more then a little while. No one stayed once they found out, not even his family. Everyone except his mother and father had left him. His secret was a gigantic knot in the pit of his stomach, always churning, always there.

Remus was a werewolf.

After being bitten when he was four years old, he had had to live with this horrid truth every month when the moon was full. And he had to live with the consequences everyday of his life. There was no cure or treatment for being a werewolf. Nothing his parents could do to ease his pain, or make the transformations stop. He was cursed.

He was still frozen over his trunk, both hands on the edge, and he was gripping it so hard that the metal was slicing into his skin. He didn't notice the pain; he was trying to focus on controlling his breathing. In, and out, again and again. Then he started shaking, just slightly at first in his hands, but soon the trembles moved up his arms and wracked through his whole being. Then the questions started forming in his mind. One after another, relentlessly pushing their way to the front of his mind, demanding his attention. What if he hadn't remembered at all? What if he transformed in his room with all of these people around? What would have happened to all of his new friends? He had to force himself to stop there. He need not think of what would happen, he knew what would have happened, but he didn't need his mind to conjure up the gruesome images.

"Oi! Mate, what are you doing?" Sirius yelled, jumping down from his bed and onto Remus, which knocked him to the floor. He landed at the edge of the wall and banged his head on the floor. That knocked him back to the present. He felt the pain in his hands rather then his head, and looked down and saw that they were bleeding quite profusely. "You didn't do that on purpose, did you?" Sirius asked glaring down at his friend.

Remus just stared at his hands, he new that the presents of blood made his brain think that the cuts hurt more then they actually did, but they still hurt. He was trying not to cry, his eyes flicking back and forth from one hand to the other. Sirius was still glaring down at him.

"The correct answer is no." He said quietly, getting down and kneeling beside his friend.

"I didn't realize what I was doing." Remus muttered quietly, still not looking up from his hands. He suddenly realized why he couldn't look away. It wasn't the pain that kept his eyes locked on his hands and their fresh gashes. He wasn't in shock that he had actually done this to himself and not realized it. He couldn't take his eyes away because of the blood. It was trickling down his hands, and landing in a useless pile on his robes. He wanted to bring his hands up to his face, smell the sweet aroma, and taste the red liquid.

He suddenly clenched his fists together. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his tongue to the back of his front teeth. He couldn't think like that. The moon wasn't until tomorrow. He was still a boy tonight. He couldn't think like that. Having his fists clenched like he did made it hurt even more, it made his fingers dig right into the slashes, but he didn't even loosen his fists.

"Okay." Sirius said, trying to help Remus stand up. But Remus wasn't ready to stand yet, he wanted to sit there and punish himself. He wanted his new friend to leave him alone. Sirius had no idea how dangerous Remus was, had no idea how close Remus himself was to forgetting.

"Let's take him down to the hospital wing. Madame Poomfry can fix him up in no time." James said. Remus could hear his foot falls closing the gap between Remus and Sirius' bed and then the two boys lifted Remus to his feet and steadied him. "Come on." James said sympathetically. Sirius had a firm grip still on Remus' arm and started pushing him towards the door.

All the other boys in the dorm remained silent as they watched James and Sirius lead Remus to the door. And when they had him out the door, neither of them said anything until they were out of the portrait whole and in the hallway. That is when Sirius rounded on him.

"What the bloody hell was that?" He yelled, earning himself a frown from the fat lady, but she was the only one within ear shot.

"It was just an accident." Remus said pleadingly, looking down at the ground. He had his fists clenched still, in tight balls at his sides.

"How was that an accident?" James said. They had him cornered, his back was up against the wall and he had no where to go. "You nearly slice your hands off, and you're telling us you didn't even notice?"

"How thick do you think we are?" Sirius said, eyes clouded with anger. Remus couldn't understand why they were acting like this. Why they were so angry.

"I don't think you're thick." Remus said looking briefly up at Sirius and then back down when he saw the look on his face. He knew that he should look up and make Sirius and James believe him but he was trying not to panic again.

If James and Sirius were getting this worked up over a couple of scrapes on his hands, what were they going to say when he came back to the dorm one night with a fresh gash on his cheek, or a bruise decorating his arm? He took a deep ragged breath and looked up.

"I was panicking." He said honestly.

"About what?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"I thought that I forgot to pack something's." He lied. James looked as though he was about to retaliate, but Remus cut him off. "Look, I suffer from pretty severe panic attacks. It makes it hard to breath, and then my grip tightens on whatever I am holding, I start shaking. It sucks, but I am telling you the truth. I didn't realize that I was hurting myself because my mind was busy dealing with far more trivial matters." James' mouth was making a little 'o' and Sirius looked far less angry. "Can we just go to the hospital wing; I can feel the pain now." He brought his hands up for them to see the blood covering them and dripping steadily to the floor.

"Yeah, alright." Sirius said looking down at Remus' hands. "You promise you didn't do this to yourself on purpose?"

"I promise." Remus said sighing.

The two other boys took his confession as it was and then they all made their way down to the hospital. Remus was a little afraid of what Madam Poomfry was going to say. He had met her earlier when his dad had come in to discuss measures of protection with the headmaster, and she knew about his secret. Remus knew that she wasn't going to tell James and Sirius his secret, but what if she said something about expecting him tomorrow? What would they take from that? Would they assume that he was just a sickly boy? Even if that is what they thought, they might not want to hang out with him. They might assume that he is weak or contagious. Then he would be alone again.

"So," Sirius said looking at the ground as they walked. "What sets off these panic attacks? For future references I mean." Remus looked over at him. What was he going to say to that? He couldn't say that his panic attacks were linked to the fact that he unwillingly transformed into a werewolf every month.

"Umm… well I don't really know." Remus muttered. "Different stuff I guess. They mostly happen when I get really stressed out or something."

"Oh." Sirius said. "Do they happen often?" Remus shook his head. "Good." He smiled.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. It was a little awkward, but not all together uncomfortable.

When Madam Poomfry saw him walk into the hospital wing with James and Sirius flanking him, she pursed her lips together frowned at him. "Well, what happened here?" She said sharply. Remus looked down at the ground and opened his mouth to tell her, but Sirius cut him off.

"He cut his hands on his trunk ma'am. He was trying to get something and slipped. He cut them pretty badly so we figured that he should come see you." He was using a voice that Remus had not heard out of him yet. A voice that was full of authority, as usual, but also respectful. Remus glanced over at him and offered an appreciative smile.

"Really? And it took the two of you to walk him down here? Did he cut up his legs as well?" They shook their heads, and Sirius looked about to protest when she put up her hand. "I appreciate the thought boys, but I am going to have to ask the two of you to go on back up to your dormitory. I think Mr. Lupin can find his way back alone."

"But we want to wait for-"

"No buts. First years curfew is in 10 minutes, so I suggest you hurry." She said with a look on her face that neither of them was likely to rebuttal.

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison and then walked out of the hospital doors. As soon as they were out of sight, Madam Poomfry rounded on him.

"What in the name of Merlin's beard do you think you are doing? Cutting your hands up and winding up down here the night before the full moon." She scoffed at him and pulled his hands up so that she could look at them. Remus hissed as she straitened his hands out and surveyed the damage. She clicked her tongue and then looked him in the eyes, her gaze still harsh, though Remus could see genuine concern etched behind them. "You are supposed to save up your strength, not get yourself hurt. Those boys weren't lying were they? They didn't do this to you, did they? I'll go get the headmaster and reports them right now I will!"

"NO!" he yelled a bit too loudly. "I mean, no ma'am. They weren't lying; I really did cut my hands on my trunk. They had nothing to do with it. I wasn't being careful." Madam Poomfry's look softened.

"Well, if you're sure." She sighed. "Let's get you fixed up and off to bed."

"Thank you ma'am." He said quietly. She pulled out her wand and tapped each of his hands. Remus watched as the wound slowly closed themselves and the blood disappeared. When the cuts were gone, he flexed his hands and then smiled up at the matron, who smiled in spite of herself down at the happy face in front of her.

"Your welcome deary. Do be more careful, won't you?" She asked rubbing his arm.

"Yes ma'am, I will."

"See you tomorrow." She waved him off. Remus' face fell at the mention of him having to be here tomorrow, but she had already turned around.

"Yeah, tomorrow." He sighed and then turned around to leave the hospital wing.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see James and Sirius leaning up against the wall opposite the door and talking quietly amongst themselves. Remus looked around apprehensively before walking over to them.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked causing them to jump slightly.

"Don't sneak up on us next time." James said looking down the hall. "We were waiting for you of course. Did she fix your hands?" Remus held out his newly mended hands for his friend to look at.

"Good, let's get back to the dorm." Sirius said walking off towards the staircase that would take them up to their room.

"Thanks for doing this." Remus said once they were walking.

"No problem. That's what friends are for." James smiled.

"Yeah, yelling at you and then taking you to the hospital." Sirius smirked.

"I really didn't do it on purpose." Remus said, feeling the need to tell them yet again.

"I know." Sirius sighed. "I just had to make sure you know. People do some pretty weird stuff, and I didn't want you to do that to yourself. It wouldn't have been good; I mean you don't need to hurt yourself. I'll have to- I am not making any sense am I?" He smiled at him.

"You are, sort of. Thanks for looking out for me." Remus smiled. James laughed.

"I can't believe you're thanking him for thinking that you were some kind of a masochist." He said.

"It's that thought that counts." Remus said. "Well, that thought, behind that thought." He said smirking. James and Sirius laughed, and Remus soaked up the feeling that came with making his friends laugh.

**AN: Another chapter completed. I hope you liked it and it wasn't too odd. Reviews are always appreciated, and till next time I'll be,**

**~Craz**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Here is the highly anticipated 6****th**** chapter. Okay, well it may not have been highly anticipated, but I hope that you enjoy it. :D**

** Chapter Six: Small teachers, sick students, and a game you play with a stick**

The next day, Remus' hands were all but forgotten. Though now there was a new problem.

When James went over to wake Remus, which was becoming the norm, he found his friend looking desperately ill. He had dark bags under his eyes that could have been bruises, and he didn't stir right away when James shook his shoulders.

"Remus?" James said alarmed, shaking him again, but this time trying to be gentle. Remus groaned and rolled over so he was on his stomach. "Hey mate, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, just give me a minute." Remus said, trying to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. James nodded any how and then moved over to the opposite wall where Sirius was still sleeping. He shook the sleeping boy and in hushed whispers, told him about Remus. Sirius got up and walked over to Remus' bed.

"Do you need us to take you back to the hospital wing?" He asked softly, bending down so he was next to Remus' head.

"Not yet." Remus said thoughtlessly. It wasn't until he saw the look on Sirius' face that he realized his mistake. "I mean no. I'm good." He pushed himself up with what appeared to be a tremendous effort and swung his legs off the side of his bed. Sirius and James looked at each other, but they let him be. After they got dressed they walked down to the great hall for breakfast, James was walking slow on purpose so Remus could keep up and Sirius seemed to get the idea, because he was walking slower too.

It took them almost twice as long to get there, but all of them pretended not to notice. When they were getting their food, James looked the other way when Remus didn't eat anything and was glad for the distraction when the post arrived. A large tawny owl stopped in front of James and dropped a letter and a small package. James opened the package first, and almost screamed in joy when he saw what was in it.

"Oh my god!" He shouted, earning him some disapproving stares from some prefects and teachers, but of course this didn't faze him. "I can't believe that they did this! I mean they said that they would, but I thought they were kidding. Dad sounded like he was kidding any way." James rambled on. Sirius was grinning at his friend, but clearly growing annoyed with not knowing what it was James couldn't believe.

"What is it?" He asked trying to peek into the box. James obliged by putting the box back onto the table. Sirius peeked in and gasped. "No way!" He laughed reaching in and taking out a long rectangular white piece of paper. Remus lifted his head off of the table long enough to see what the fuss was about.

"What?" He asked quietly, not getting the significance of the paper.

"Do you know what this is?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Obviously not, or he wouldn't have asked." James said rolling his eyes. "It's a Quidditch ticket!" He said jumping up and down now. "To a Tornados game!" James clapped Remus on the back rather hard and then had to back track when he saw him shrink away. "Are you sure that you are all right?" James asked.

"Yeah. Just tiered." Remus said trying to sit up straighter. "What does your letter say?" James looked at him confused for a moment, before remembering that the package that had held his ticket had had a letter as well. He reached over the table and picked it up out of a bowl of apples in front of them.

'_Dear James,_

_ Now, I am not even sure if you are going to read this, but I wanted to right to you any way and tell you how dreadfully proud your father and I are of you. And we did make you a promise, and I reminded your father that he needed to keep it, so we went out yesterday to buy the tickets. The game is set for two days after you come home for Christmas break. _

_ Don't forget to write to us dear. We would love to hear from you as much as you can manage. I love you more then you know,_

_ This last week at home your father invited some people-'_

James skimmed the rest before folding the letter up and put it into his bag along with the ticket, which he placed with much more care, arranging his things carefully, as not to wrinkle the prize.

"Well?" Sirius said when James set his bag back on the floor. He had already started eating again, and was working though his 12th piece of bacon.

"She said that the game is two days after we leave here for Christmas break! Do you know what that mean?" James asked looking slightly frustrated.

"That you are going to a Tornado game?" Sirius smirked, not able to decipher where his friend's angst were coming from.

"Well yes, but it also means that I have to wait a whole 3 and a half months before I can go!" He sighed throwing his hands up at the injustice of the situation.

"Only you could find something wrong with getting a ticket to your favorite teams' game." Sirius laughed.

"Second favorite." James corrected, causing Remus to raise his head a bit and give them both a smile, but it seemed that it was all he could manage and it still looked more like a grimace.

"Look Remus, at least go back to the dormitory and get some sleep. I don't think that it would be completely awful to miss one day." James said, temporarily forgetting about his ticket. Sirius looked at the small boy and cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah mate, you look sort of green."

"Thanks Sirius." Remus muttered, trying to make it come off as playful banter. "No, I think I'll just go to class." James sighed and stood up.

"Well then, we better get moving."

They trudged along through the halls making there way to class, again taking a slower pace then normal for Remus' sake. They were passing a portrait of old men sitting around a fireplace when Ian ran up to them out of breath and nearly falling into Sirius.

"Whoa!" He said quickly jumping out of Ian's way and then grabbing him by his robes so he wouldn't fall over. "What's the rush?"

"I was trying to catch up to you." He said bending over and working at gaining control of his breathing again. "I needed to talk to you with out other people around."

"Well, you succeeded." Sirius smirked. "Barely." He said referring to the fact that Ian was almost on the floor.

"I wanted to talk to you guys about the plan. We sort of got…" He trailed off and shot a glance at Remus ever so quickly before looking back at James. "Anyway, as brilliant as it is, it isn't going to work if we don't plan it all out."

"I know." James said continuing to walk towards the dungeons, as they were heading to defense against the dark arts and the classroom was located in the dungeons of the castle. "I have been thinking about it. I think that me Sirius and Remus should go down the main staircase, and you and Frank, he seemed like he wanted to help right? You two can go down the back way, you know. Take the stairs by the troll picture. That will lead you to down near the potions room. But then you have to work your way out to the front door, which shouldn't be that hard. We can't all go together obviously, or else we are more apt to get caught." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Once we get outside, we will just go out to the black lake, take rocks from its shore and write out our clever message with them." He finished smiling.

Ian nodded. "But what about the others?"

"We can't all go; like James said about us taking different ways to get there. The more people we have the better chance we have of getting caught." Sirius said.

"That's what you guys are planning?" Remus said smirking feeling momentarily better. "Then explain to me why the presence of the full moon is so _crucia_l. I think that is the word you used."

"Okay, so I exaggerated a bit. It just makes it easier to see everything." James shrugged. He knew that his plan wasn't exactly as brilliant as Ian seemed to think it was, but it was a good first prank that was sure not to get them expelled if caught. James was sure that he could handle any sort of punishment that Hogwarts could throw at him. Though he had never been properly punished before. He was used to getting reprimanded; he should be too with all the hell he raised at home. Though his parents had never been too hard on him, and just laughed at most of his misdoings.

When they reached the classroom James realized that this would be their first Defense against the Dark arts class. He walked into the classroom, fully aware that they were they only students there and wished that they had had the sense to at least stand out in the hall and wait for other to arrive. He didn't want the teacher to get the wrong idea about him and raise her expectations already.

But they were already in the room and couldn't turn around now.

Their teacher was sitting at the front of the room looking up at them. James looked over at Sirius who was looking down at the floor, he was feeling the same way James was. But Remus looked rather glad to finally be able to sit down and took full advantage of being early to put his head down and try and build his strength up.

James decided that he should look up at his teacher as not to appear nervous or something, but when he did he almost gasped. He had seen this teacher sitting up at the staff table during meals, but he hadn't pictured them as the Defense teacher.

She was a petite young woman, with shoulder length red hair. She wore the black school robes that all teachers wore, but because of her size, hers seemed to look more like the students robes. She had a child like smile on her face as James looked at her, and he tried to smile back convincingly, but he was sure that his smile was flat and laced with shock. She looked young enough to be a student here.

"Good morning children." She said in a honeyed voice. "And what would your names be?"

"I am James; this is Sirius, Remus, and Ian." He said, taking the initiative to talk to their teacher. Sirius was still looking at the ground and Remus had slumped into a chair and hadn't moved since. Ian was just staring. "Sorry we're early professor."

"Oh that is quite all right boys. Better to be early then late. I wouldn't want to have to take points from your house on the first day of having you in my class anyhow." She said still smiling. James couldn't tell if she was being thick, or if she was just a genuinely sweet person.

"Thank you professor." James said taking a seat beside Remus. Sirius and Ian took seats behind them and they all sat in silence.

"Well, are you four usually this quiet?" She asked, still smiling. "And before you can say yes, I will tell you that I could hear you lot coming from when you first entered that hall."

"Sorry about that ma'am." Remus muttered in a sleepy tone, lifting his head up so that he could look at her. And then he let out a half yawn and laid his head down on the desk. Sirius looked at him pointedly and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, it is quite all right." She smiled. And then they lapsed into an awkward silence that no one seemed inclined to break. James looked down at his desk and traced patterns on it with his index finger.

Luckily Carl and Frank showed up, along with a few Gryffindor girls and they took seats around the four early birds. Peter scrambled in shortly after them and took a seat in front of Remus; Stephen came in and took a seat next to him.

After another few minutes of the teacher smiling down at them all, the whole class was settled; Ravenclaws included who were forced to integrate into the empty seats that the Gryffindors had left. It seemed that James and Sirius weren't the only ones who noticed the other houses segregation the last two days.

"Good morning class." The short red head said standing up and walking around to the front of her desk so that she could lean on it while talking to her students. She stood like that for a moment before hopping up so that she was sitting on the edge and crossing her legs. "I am your Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Perkins. In this room you will stretch your current knowledge on the subject much farther. You will learn not only spells that will protect you but also the history behind them, the mechanics, and the famous witches and wizards who created them." She said in what appeared to be a pre-made speech. James could hear a slight rumbling coming from his right and looked over to find Remus asleep. He nudged his friend gently. He didn't really want to wake him, but he really did not want him to get into trouble for sleeping in class either. Remus didn't stir. "You will all need to try your very best if you wish to succeed in my class. I do not accept late work, foolishness will not be tolerated, and neither will sleeping in my class." Though she said this all with a smile, her voice hardened a bit as her eyes zoned in on Remus' sleeping figure.

"Please ma'am." Sirius said standing up before James could get a word out. "He is ill. We tried to get him to go to the hospital wing this morning before breakfast, but he wanted to come to class. This isn't what he does normally. Ask any of the other teachers, he is usually taking notes and stuff."

Professor Perkins looked between Remus and Sirius and then she nodded. "Well, he did look a little green when he came in here. Make sure he goes to the hospital after class, let him sleep for now. Sleep is its own kind of medicine." She turned away from them and faced the rest of the class. "Just to let you know, you shouldn't get used to this. Really. I am usually very strict." Some giggles ensued through out the room, and Perkins' smile grew even bigger. "I mean it. If you fall asleep under normal circumstances, I will have to give you detention. Your education is the most important thing right now, and you must treat it as such." She hopped off of her desk and walked around it, up to a large black board that hung behind her desk and gave it a light tap with her wand.

"Now, I don't see any reason not to jump right into things. No need to dawdle. First thing I have on my list is the disarming spell, 'Expeliomus'. This spell was created in the 14th century by a wizard named Alfred Winfred. It is quiet an awful name if I do say so myself, and what makes it even worse is that his middle name is Fredrick." Laughter followed and Perkins continued to smile out at her class. "Really it was. Try to forget a name like that. Alfred Fredrick Winfred."

Class continued on like that for the next hour and a half before the bell rang and they were dismissed. First impression aside, James could tell that he was going to enjoy having Professor Perkins as his DADA teacher. She made the class engaging, even on a day like today when there was no practical part of the lesson. He knew that he wasn't soon going to forget how Alfred Fredrick Winfred had died. Perkins had _actually_ sung in front of the whole class.

_'Winfred had a nasty fall, nasty fall he had. He landed on his old wife's dagger when death came round to call!'_

Most of the class was still humming the catchy tune when they walked out the door.

Remus had, unfortunately, slept through the entire class and had to be woken up at the end when they boys were getting ready to leave. James had expected him to feel better after his nap, but he moved even more lethargically, and looked even paler if that could be possible.

The all but carried him to the hospital wing, ignoring his pathetic attempts to postpone the trip.

"Look it's alright mate, you'll just rest up for a day or two and then you can come back to lessons and Sirius and I will tell you everything you missed." James said handing him over to a much more sympathetic looking Madame Poomfry.

"Yeah, in excruciating detail too." Sirius smiled, Remus tried to smile back at them.

"Thanks guys." He managed to say. Then Madam Poomfry shoed them from the room, and started to fuss over Remus.

"Well, this sucks." James said when they were in the corridor.

"Yeah, hope he feels better soon."

"Yeah, if he doesn't, he is going to miss me trying out for the house team." James said heading towards the great hall.

"It's a right shame too, seeing how everything is about you." Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"That's not why it would suck; I just want you and Remus there, that's all. I am actually really nervous." James revealed.

"Don't worry, your going to do just fine. I promise." Sirius said slinging an arm over James' shoulder. "Bit weird without him isn't it?"

"A bit." James mused. "What should we do, we have free period till after lunch."

"Well then, let's head outside and see if we can't find some decent people to start a game of … something." Sirius said steering James and himself out the front doors and into the brilliant sunlight. They found that _all_ the first years thought it was a good idea to come outside and most spots by the lake were already occupied. They spotted Frank and Stephen standing next to a tree, watching as Orian tried to skip a rock out to the middle of the lake and make the giant squid come up.

"Hey guys." James said coming up to them.

"Hey James." Frank said. "Ian said that you made me a part of tonight's master plan."

"Yeah, you alright with that?"

"Yes. Thanks." Frank smiled.

"What do you guys want to do?" Sirius said, looking around at his fellow Gryffindors as if he wondered why James thought their company worthy.

"Well, right now I am trying to get the squid to show itself." Orian said grabbing at a smooth rock and flinging it toward the middle of the lake. It hopped a crossed the water a few times before it sunk.

"Let's do something else." Sirius sighed.

"Like what?" Orian asked, looking on the ground for another rock to throw.

"I don't know."

"We could play baseball." Carl said coming up behind them with Ian.

"What in gods name is baseball?"

"It's a muggle sport." Stephen said. "It's no Quidditch, but its loads of fun."

"Alright." James shrugged. "Let's try it.

**AN: Yes, I really am making a bunch of wizard boys play Base ball at Hogwarts. It was going to be capture the flag, or tag, but this one has potential to get out of hand. Is that a hint of foreshadowing I see? Maybe. Thanks a bunch for reading, I love you all. Please review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey! What up people? Here is the latest installment of my story, hope you enjoy! :D**

** Chapter Seven: Kicked out of the Hospital, yet again**

When they first started playing the game, which only Carl and Stephen knew about, everyone was a bit skeptical. How could a muggle game be any fun to a bunch of wizard kids? But they split themselves into teams any way. James, Ian, Stephen, and Frank on one team, Sirius, Carl, Peter, and Orian on the other.

Carl had run back up to the dorm and came back with a wooden pole that got wider as it went up, and a white ball that was only a bit to large for his hand. He was also holding three brown things that looked like over sized gloves with oddly shaped finger places.

After Stephen and Carl had explained the rules to every one, which took some time seeing as they kept asking where the magic came in, they went off to find a place where they could play, and ended up setting up the bases in front of the grounds keeper hut. Hagrid, the grounds keeper, was watching them do so with amused bewilderment on his extra large face. "Be sure to mind the pumpkin patch." He said in a warning tone. But other then that, he just watched them, trying to figure out what the blazes they were up to.

Carl's team was playing the out field first, and he was pitching. All these terms were new to Sirius but he was determined to prove that he could play this muggle game as well as anyone else. He was standing where Carl had instructed him too, in between the first and second bases, which were actually just old pieces of fire wood that they barrowed from Hagrid. He stood there, bouncing on the balls of his feet, quite doubtful that this game would be any fun at all. There was no magic, as they were repeatedly reminded, and no broom sticks. There was just a ball and bat that would have been far too long to play Quidditch with. The beaters bats were always shorter. But he had agreed to play, and James looked far to excited for him to back out now.

Stephen was the first on who was going to attempt to hit the odd white ball with the bat, so that the others could all see what they were supposed to do. Though Carl had told him that it didn't really count for anything seeing as how his own team didn't yet know what they were supposed to do when the ball came towards them out on the field.

"Ready?" Carl asked when Stephen had stepped up to the makeshift base.

"Yep." Stephen said smiling. Carl wound his hand back and threw the ball towards Stephen; the ball soared through the air, a perfect throw, strait towards Stephen, you could almost hear it whizzing by. It looked as though it were going to hit him if he didn't move, but then Stephen started to swing the bat towards the ball just in time. When the ball and bat made contact, there was a 'ting' and then the ball went flying in the opposite direction, over Carl's head and towards Orian who looked rather confused.

"Catch it!" Carl shouted as he started racing Stephen to first base. The ball dropped to the ground in front of Orian feet and Carl started yelling out directions again. "Pick it up and toss it to Sirius." This time, Orian complied and picked up the strange little white ball. He threw it to Sirius who caught it just as Stephen was passing him on his way to second base. "Get him out! Touch the base!" Carl shouted frantically. Sirius started charging after Stephen. He was only ahead of him by a few feet, but the bases weren't that far apart. They were so close to the base when Sirius reached out in desperation and tagged Stephen's shoulder with the ball. It was a light touch and it almost didn't happen, but when it did Stephen slowed down and turned to face Sirius.

"Good job." He smiled. "You got me out." Sirius looked down at the ball in his hand and then back up at Stephen.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, fun huh?"

"Sort of."

"It only gets better." Stephen assured him running up towards his team and getting back in line so he could bat again.

Pretty soon all the boys had the hang of it and the game got pretty interesting. They started off not keeping score, so that everyone could learn how to play, but after a few swings for everyone, they decided to start keeping score.

They were causing quite the spectacle as well. Soon most of the first years were gathered around, watching the strange Gryffindor boys play an unfamiliar game. Then some of the other boys wanted to join in, the muggle borns from their own houses describing the rules to them as they went.

When the bell rang signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch, barley anyone moved. They were at the top of the ninth inning and James' team was only 3 runs up. Sirius was quite sure that his team could make three runs when it was there tern to bat, but not many more then that. Now that there were more players, some good some not too good, it was harder to make it to a base without getting out.

James was up to bat and was concentrating rather hard on the ball in Harvey Clifford's hand. He was a muggle born from Hufflepuff who had been taking turns with Carl as there pitcher. He wound up his hand and threw the ball, it soared right past James as the bat swung out and he missed. James' team groaned, but then cheered him on all the same.

"Strike one!" Harvey shouted, catching the ball as Stephen threw it back to him.

"You can do it James, just focus." Stephen said encouragingly.

Harvey threw the ball again, and James' bat missed. The ball dropping to the ground behind him.

"Hit it over here!" Sirius shouted tauntingly waving his arms back and forth. James threw him a nasty look and got into position again.

Harvey had the ball again and wound up his arm for the third time. He brought his arm forward and let the ball fly out of his hand. It went sailing towards James and then, with all his might, he swung the bat towards that ball and with a 'crack' the ball went flying over all of their heads, past Hagrid's hut and landed right at the edge of the forbidden forest. All of their eyes followed the ball and they all seemed to be frozen until James snapped out of it and took off towards first base. The Ravenclaw, Daniel Richman, who was on Third base and Ian, who was on first base also started running. Sirius took off after the ball. He knew that some of them were going to make it. He had to run the length of two bases to get to the ball; Daniel was going to make it home for sure.

And he did, the ball came back into play shortly after he crossed over home plate. Ian looked like was going to stop on third base, but James shouted at him to keep moving. Ian passed over home and James was running frantically towards it. Sirius had thrown the ball to Carl, who had thrown it to Frank. Frank had tried to get Ian out before throwing it back to third base to Harvey. Now Harvey and James were racing to home plate. The crowd that had gathered seemed to hold it's breath as both boys dove towards home plate.

"Shoot!" Harvey shouted standing up and brushing the dirt off of him.  
>James stood up smiling widely and his whole team cheered, even Sirius grinned a bit at his friend. They were down 6 runs and probably couldn't win now, but he was still happy for his friend.<p>

They did end up losing, but only by 2 runs. Sirius hadn't gotten a turn to bat, but he didn't think he could have hit the ball better then any one who was up. The whole lot of them walked up to the castle together, hoping that they weren't too late for lunch.

Sirius couldn't even imagine the look on his mothers face if she knew how he had spent the better half of the morning. He, Sirius Black, had played a muggle game and he had enjoyed it. He didn't dwell on this thought for too long either. He was having a good time and wanted to continue to enjoy himself. It's not like his mother was ever going to find out any way. He certainly wasn't going to tell her.

When all of the first years walked into the great hall, all heads turned to look at them. They were all late, and all together, minus the Slytherins of course who were already at their table and eating. They had watched the boys making a scene and left laughing at them. But the rest of them were smiling and laughing and all together. Though that stopped almost immediately after seeing everyone looking at them. Professor Dumbledore smiled at them as they all came in and sat at their appropriate tables. Sirius avoided his gaze and looked at the ground as he walked in. They were late, and now they were probably going to get in to trouble.

"And may I ask you all where you have been?" He said standing up and looking over them, his eyes lit with curiosity and happiness. James looked as though he was about to say something but then he looked at his hands instead. Just then, the doors to the great hall open again and Hagrid walks in chuckling to himself again.

"I've never seen anything like it." He said wiping his eyes and then chuckling again. Dumbledore rose one of his long, thin, white wispy eyebrows and looked at Hagrid, who appeared to be in a right state.

"Never seen what Hagrid?" He asked in a tone that could almost be called sharp, momentarily forgetting about the last arrival of the students.

"All of 'em Headmaster, well at firs' it was just them Gryffindor boys and I didn't know what they were doing le' me tell ya. But then they all came out an' played together. Them Hufflepuffs an da' Ravenclaws. Some rudey game called 'baseball'. I never seen anythin' like it."

"Ah." Dumbledore said, turning yet again to look at all the first years. "That is why you were all late for lunch." They all nodded simultaneously. "And, did you have fun?" They all nodded again. "Can somebody answer a question that I have?"

"Sure." Sirius said, no longer afraid that they were in trouble he was busy helping himself to the assortment of food that the table had to offer.

"What is baseball?"

"It's this game with two teams, and there is this bat that you have to hit a ball with. And, well it is sort of hard to explain, you'll have to come and watch the next time we play." James said, also filling his plate up.

"I guess I will. It sounds absolutely fascinating. Now, I suggest that you all take a leaf from James and Sirius' book and start eating. I am afraid that I can't give you any extra time to do so." He said smiling at all of them. The older students went back to their previous conversations, except a few who were asking some first years near them about the game, and their late entrance.

"Let's go visit Remus after lessons." Sirius said as he and James made their way up to the top tower for divination class. It was also their first time taking this class so they had been sure to wait a little while after seeing some of the other students leave so that they wouldn't be first.

"Yeah, alright. We can tell him all about baseball. Pretty fun don't you think? I mean it's nothing compared to Quidditch, but it is quite fun."

"Yeah." Sirius said thoughtfully. "I was much more fun then I expected, though a bit simple."

"If it was so simple, why didn't you win?" James mocked.

"We'll get you next time Potter." Sirius promised.

After they left Divination, they walked down to the hospital wing to visit Remus. He was curled up on a cot with his back towards them. They walked in slowly, and James went around to see if he was a sleep.

"Hey there buddy." James said softly. "Feeling any better?" Remus grunted, and they took that for a no.

"We just wanted to come in and check on you." Sirius said walking over to stand by James. Remus gave them a weak smile.

"What do you boys think your doing?" A shrill voice came from behind them. Sirius and James both whirled around to an angry Madam Poomfry. "Coming in here and harassing the poor boy when he can barley speak. Who do you think you are?"

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked in rude indignation. "We're his friends and we're concerned about him."

"Yeah, we aren't harassing him; we're only asking him if he feels better." James said rather put out as well. He didn't like her thinking that they were mean to Remus, they were his friends.

"Well he doesn't." She said putting her hands on her hips, but speaking much more calmly.

"We got that from asking him thank you." Sirius huffed.

"They're fine Madam." Remus said hoarsely. "I don't mind, really. I want them here." He pleaded.

"Alright, alright. They can stay for a little while, but you need your rest, you hear?" Then she walked back to her private room in the back corner to let them be. Once she had closed the door, James and Sirius took a seat on the bed that was currently unoccupied right next to Remus. James dropped his bag down to the ground.

"Rotten luck that you got sick today Remus." James said sadly.

"Yeah, you would have really liked playing base ball." Sirius added. Remus almost was able to choke out a laugh at that, but thought better of it and opted for a weak smile instead.

"You two played base ball? As in the muggle game?" He whispered his disbelief.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun too. We had a lot of the first years playing. It was only the Slytherins that wouldn't give it a chance." James scowled. "Surprise surprise."

"Not that we would have let them play with us if they had wanted to. Especially not that Snape kid." Sirius said pretending to puke all over the floor.

"Yeah, we might have slipped in a puddle of grease or something." James laughed pretending to have oily hair as he ran his fingers through his own hair and then shook off imaginary grease.

"It's really a bit unnatural." Remus agreed in a whisper.

"A bit?" James asked raising an eye brow. He and Sirius laughed a bit while Remus just smiled.

"So, did your guys' team win?"

"We were actually on different teams." James smirked looking over at Sirius.

"Yeah, James' team won. Now he is going to rub it in my face until my team beats him next time." Sirius said pushing James. They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. Remus just lay there smiling. He had never had friends to come and visit him while he was 'sick' and he was enjoying it. He only ever had his mother and father to keep him company, and as much as he loved them, he hated seeing the looks on their faces when it was so close to his transformation. They always looked guilty.

"Now, you better be all well again by this Saturday. I need you to be there when I try out for the house team."

"I'll do my very best." Remus said. Sirius calculated the days in his head ticking them off on his fingers.

"That gives you three day. Think you can handle that?" Sirius said.

"I hope so." Remus said with a sad glint in his eyes. He looked as though he was feeling a bit more a wake now, but defiantly still just as ill. "Now, if you don't mind, I would appreciate it very much if you told me what I missed in Defense against the Dark Arts today."

"Oh, Professor Perkins is a real hoot." Sirius jumped up quickly, followed by a bark of laughter. "You should have heard her sing to us."

"She sang?" Remus asked with wide eyes.

"Oh yeah." James smiled. Then he and Sirius broke out into chorus and at the end James had to sit Remus up and help him get a drink of water to stop him from choking. Unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by Madam Poomfry and she shoot out of her little back room rather quickly.

"Alright, you had quite enough time. He is sick for Pete's sake." She said exasperated. "I am going to have to ask you two to leave now." She said shooing them towards the door.

"We were only talking to him!" Sirius said as he was grabbed by his collar and dragged towards the door.

"Out!" She yelled and then tossed them into the hall.

"See you later Remus!" James called.

"We'll try and come back in the morning." Sirius called over the fuming nurse's shoulder. "Sleep tight!"

"And don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"Oh you two!" She muttered before closing both of the large oak doors in their faces.

"Why does it seem like she is always kicking us out of their?" James asked as they started walking toward the Gryffindor common room.

"Maybe because she has kicked us out of there the three times that we have been in there." Sirius laughed.

"That might have something to do with it." James smiled. Together, they made their way back to the dorm in fairly high spirits.

**AN: Hey ya'll! Hope you enjoyed. I had a pretty good time writing the baseball scene. Hope it was all fine by you. Reviews are always welcome. :D**

** ~Craz**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Next chapter. I am starting to wonder why I bother with the author note at all if that is all I have to say. I mean, if this wasn't the next chapter, then it wouldn't be here. Any way, here you are, hot off the press! :D**

** Chapter Eight: Shrieks, Nerves, Bacon, and Boys**

Remus was currently sitting in what would come to be known as the shrieking shack, looking out an old cracked window up at the shadow of Hogwarts as it was reflected onto the black lake. It was a site that had enchanted him when he first arrived, now it filled him with a sense of doom. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the moon would rise and he would no longer have control over his mind. He would leave his human mind and trade for that of a werewolf. A mind that aloud him close to no self control, and always caused him pain.

Madam Poomfry had taken him out here and shown him around the old house, Remus had aloud her to do so only because he was afraid of upsetting her again. He was very much so hoping that she would allow James and Sirius to visit him at some point tomorrow. He had felt very lonely in the hospital, all by himself.

Though her needless anger seemed to have evaporated as soon as James and Sirius were out of sight and she turned and saw Remus wincing in pain from the sudden change in sound. She had run over to him and put a cool hand to his face to offer him some comfort, apologizing for all the shouting that she had done. He tried to tell her it was okay, but his head was pounding too much and he had thrown up instead.

But he was alone now. There was no one to go through this with him.

Though he was used to it being this way. No one could be around him while he transformed. It was too dangerous. Even people that Remus loved weren't safe when he was in the wolf state. He couldn't stop himself, he knew that. He had never been stupid enough to test it, but he knew that he would not be able to prevent himself from attacking if a human were to be so unfortunate as to cross his path.

He tried not to think about the thoughts of the wolf the following morning. The insistent yearning for human flesh and blood made the wolf mad. Though it was mostly the blood. The thought of the warm, sweet blood trickling down its throat made the wolf drool in great puddles, and try desperately to escape from its place of imprisonment, and to no prevail.

Remus tried to distance himself from the wolf. To think of the wolf and himself as two different beings. He was a boy, all the time and he just ceased to be for a few hours every month. He no longer existed. For a while, Remus went somewhere else, probably some where safe and warm. Some where that didn't have people who looked at him harshly, or judged him so quickly. A place where he had friends and his family was happy. And when the moon set, he would return to his body on earth. He was _here_ again. He tried not to let himself think that once a month _he_ was monster. A nightmare, a thing of terror, a beast.

He traced patterns into the dust that had settled over the window sill as he sat in the dark room. He had about 5 minutes left before the transformation started. He sighed, and tried not to feel so helpless.

This was the part that was the worst.

He could deal with the pain once it was here; he could handle waking up in a pile of his own blood, the looks that knowing strangers gave him, the looks of sorrow his father tried so desperately to hide from him, and the weight of carrying around the knowledge of what he was. But this…the waiting.

The knowing what was coming, the dread that filled him, the not being able to stop it. He hated this part. It was torture for him. He expected it to get better every month. That he would finally come to terms with his fate and feel better about it, but it was yet to happen. He still went numb whenever he thought about it.

He took a deep breath and put his hand in his lap. Despite all of this, he couldn't help but feel calm, happy even. Even now, when impending doom was upon him, he still felt warm with happiness, the tingles it left in his fingers and toes.

Remus Lupin had friends. He was accepted, and he was at Hogwarts. He felt as though he was the luckiest boy in the world.

And with that thought still strong in his head, the wolf descended upon him.

Sirius and James were gathered in a small circle in the middle of their dorm with the other boys. James and Sirius said that they would allow three others now that Remus was too ill to participate in their shenanigans, and the other boys were fighting over whom else got to go.

"Look," Frank said looking down at Orian and Stephen, the two boys vying for the open spot. "It seems to me that there is going to be more of this in the future, so just flip a coin for it, or one of you bow out gracefully." Sirius nodded in agreement. He was getting a bit put out with his dorm mates and wanted to just go do their prank already. If he had it his way, he would have just left with Frank and James and left the rest of them to fume. He was not so well practiced in the art of patients. That was a trait that he got from his lovely mother. And he had been on the wrong end of her lack of patients a few times more then he would have liked.

"Fine, I call heads." Stephen said pulling a gallon out of his trunk and handing it to Frank to flip.

"No, if we're using your coin, I get to pick first. I want heads!" Orian shouted.

"Pick a number 1 through 5, both of you right now." James shouted suddenly, quite exasperated.

"3"

"1"

"1 was closer, Orian gets to come. Now let's just leave already." James said pulling his cloak on and walking towards the door with Sirius, and Frank in tow. Orian smiled very widely and then grabbed Ian and followed the other three.

They split up once outside the common room and took their separate paths just as James had originally planned. James and Sirius were together with Frank and they had let, more like made, Ian take Orian.

"So what was your number?" Frank asked once they were well away from Orian.

"I didn't pick a number; I just didn't want Stephen to come. He was really getting on my nerves. More so then Orian. I mean, the kid is basically a spoiled brat." James sighed as Sirius and Frank laughed at him.

"Well, I for one am glad you ended it. If I had to stand around and hear them argue over an effing coin, I was going to throw myself out of the window." Frank said as they bounced down a set of stairs that would take them to the great hall.

"Why throw yourself, I would have helped you chuck those two loons." Sirius said with a smirk. James laughed and Frank nodded.

"I will have to remember that next time."

"There better not be a next time, or we will have to stop sharing our brilliant ideas." James said bitterly. They walked the remainder of the way in silence, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, seeing as how they were most defiantly supposed to be in bed at this hour of the night.

Eventually they met up outside in the light of the moon, near the black lake.

"What are we going to write?" Ian asked as he trudged up from the black lake with an armful of rocks weighing him down a bit. James laughed for a moment before leaning over and whispering the message into his ear. Ian's face broke into a smile and he laughed. "Who thought that one up?" He asked looking between James and Sirius. Sirius raised his hand and pretended to look abashed. "Nice." Ian smirked.

"What is it?" Orian and Frank asked at the same time also carrying an armload of rocks. James leaned over to whisper it in their ears as well.

"You don't have to whisper it, we are alone here you know." Sirius said rolling his eyes. As if to contradict him, a blood curdling howl ripped through the night air causing all of them to jump. The howl was followed by another, and then what sounded like a shriek which sent a chill down all the boys' backs. They all looked at each other and then towards the direction of the sound.

"You can never be too careful." James said to Sirius.

"Well if you want to keep our message a secret from whatever that thing is, I just want to let you know that I am not going to argue with it if it comes over here asking." Sirius said trying to lighten the mood. Even in the light of the moon, all 5 boys were pretty shaken.

"Let's not stand around and pretend that we are all brave." Frank said in a loud whisper. "Let's do what we came here to do and get out of here before that thing gets any closer." The other boys agreed and they got to work. No one pretended to be brave until they were back up in their dorm, safe from harms way, and in the comfort of their beds. But even then, they didn't dwell on it when the other boys asked them how it went the next morning.

At breakfast, the boys did their best to keep their game faces on. But no one seemed to be acting any different. No one seemed to notice that anything had happened at all in fact. The teachers were sitting up at their table eating quietly while conversing with each other, and the students were all looking rather tiered and trying to get something to eat before they were expected to be in class.

James looked over at Sirius, but didn't say anything. After all, this could be a trap. They all sat down and began eating. Ian leaned over to say something to James, but James cut him off. He could have sworn that he saw McGonagall look right at them as they had this silent exchange. Sirius didn't like the silence that was ensuing and decided that he didn't care to keep it up.

"Do you think that we could go and visit with Remus before classes start?" He said looking at James.

"Ooo!" Peter said looking between the boys with wide eyes. "Do you think that I could come with you?"

"No." Sirius said not bothering to look at him.

"Madam Poomfry doesn't like too many people in there at once. She won't even let us stay in there for more then a few minutes." James explained to the crestfallen boy.

"Oh." He muttered dejectedly.

"Yeah, we could probably do it if we leave right now." James said, grabbing a bagel off the table and standing up. Sirius followed his lead and grabbed a handful of bacon strips. "See you guys in class." James waved to the Gryffindor boys.

"Bye." Their voices rang out.

Sirius and James were almost to the door when they were stopped by none other then Professor McGonagall. They looked quickly at each other and then down at the ground, hoping against hope that nothing that they had done had gave them away.

"And where do you boys think that you are off to?" She asked sternly, her eyes shooting daggers at them over her spectacles.

"We are off to the hospital wing to visit with Remus Lupin Ma'am." James muttered at the ground.

"And why is your friend in the hospital?" She asked, changing lane rather quickly. She was now more anxious then angry.

"He is sick ma'am. We took him their yesterday before playing baseball." Sirius said looking up at her.

"Well if he is sick, do you really think he wants you two to go down there and bother him?"

"Yes." Sirius said with a bit too much cheek for her liking. James turned his head to glare at him before making a mental note to kick him as soon as McGonagall was out sight.

"Oh and why is that?" She said raising a sharp brow.

"He asked us to come see him today ma'am. Honest, he did." James said, not really remembering if Remus had said that or not. But whatever was going to get her to let them leave, he was going to say.

"I don't think that it is such a good idea-"

"Please Ma'am. If we don't go now, we won't have time to visit." James said with an almost irresistible puppy dog face. She looked down at him and James could see her resolve melting away.

"Well, I guess. But you are not to be late to class, do you hear me?" She said in her stern mode again. They had her class first today, so she was going to know if they were late or not. "I will not hesitate to throw the both of you in detention."

"Of course we'll be there on time." Sirius smiled. "Thank you Professor."

"Yes, well… Run along." She said waving them off. "And don't drop any of that food in the halls. Filch has already banned enough stuff."

"Yes ma'am." James called over his shoulder.

They boys ran down the corridor and to the doors of the hospital wing.

"Oh that was close, I was sure that for a moment there…" James trailed off.

"Yeah I know." Sirius said. "How did you do that thing with your face?"

"What?" James laughed.

"You know, that- that look."

"The puppy dog face?" James asked incredulously. "You don't know how to do the puppy dog face? And you look like you would be really good at it too." He laughed at his friend and bumped him in the arm.

"Well, fine then. Don't tell me." Sirius said bitterly.

"No, I'll teach you the art latter, but right now, let's go say good morning to Remus."

James didn't know what he had been expecting, but he was defiantly not expecting what he saw.

Remus had switched from the bed in the middle of the ward, to the bed in the far back corner. He was propped up on a few pillows and his left leg was in a cast that went from his upper thigh all the way down to his toes. He looked as though he had gotten into a very bad fight as well. His whole face was scratched and bruised. But he was awake and his face lit up for a moment when he saw his friends. Then he looked down at his leg and brought his hands up to his face and his smile vanished.

The two boys rushed over to their injured friend with a look of absolute confusion on their faces. Sirius was the first to break out of the trance.

"What the he-"

"Don't you finish that sentence young man." Madam Poomfry said sternly coming out of her office with an arm load of clean sheets. She set them on a table that was against the back wall and then walked over to the three boys.

"What happened to him?" Sirius asked looking at the nurse. "He wasn't like this when we gave him to you."

"It's not her fault." Remus said looking quite taken back at the conclusion that Sirius seemed to be jumping to.

"No, but I could have prevented it if you had told me that you were a sleep walker." Madam Poomfry lied easily. Sirius and James exchanged a look of doubt.

"Sleep walking?" James asked.

"Yeah, woke up to give him his position and he was gone. Went out and found him at the bottom of a staircase holding that leg of his. Suit of armor was lying on the ground next to him. Nasty sight too. Blood every where." She said running her hand over Remus' face.

"Well, are you feeling any better?" Sirius said deciding to believe the tale.

"Yeah, loads." Remus smiled. He really was looking as though he was back to his old self again. He was a bit pale and his face was a bit harsh looking, but there was life in his eyes again.

"Yes. I think that we may be able to have him back in class by tomorrow." Madam Poomfry said smiling. "Now mind that you boys don't be late to class. I have got some stuff to do in my office." And then she turned to leave.

Sirius turned and smiled at Remus. "This is the first time that she didn't throw us out." Remus laughed. "No really. Every time that we've been here, she's thrown us out."

"Yeah, she is sort of strict with you two. Don't know why, she likes me." He said in a boastful tone. Sirius snickered. "So, how did your plan go last night?"

"Don't know." James said looking at the nurse's door. "No ones seems to have noticed anything, but McGonagall was acting a bit odd this morning."

"Well, at least you didn't get caught." Remus said sensibly.

"Yeah." Sirius said looking disappointed. "But we didn't get any credit either."

"It's not like we were going to tell people it was us." James said quickly, making sure that Sirius understood that.

"I know, but no one is talking about it or anything. It's like we did it all for nothing."

"You'll just have to come up with something better next time." Remus said smiling. "And maybe wait until I can actually join you?"

"Sure." They said at the same time. Remus beamed.

"You guys should go now. I don't want you to be late on account of me." James picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder before nodding.

"Kay, we'll come by later. Probably the other boys too, they are worried about you." James said waving as he walked towards the door with Sirius.

"See ya Remus." Sirius said also waving back at Remus.

When the door closed Remus started laughing, he had never felt so elated the morning after a full moon. He had never felt so strong either. He couldn't figure out why this was exactly, but he sure wasn't going to complain.

**AN: Hey guys, hope you liked. Please Review, I would love to hear from you! 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Here is the next chapter. I need to come up with something for them to do, and idle hands are the devils handy work…hint? I think so.**

**Also, **Nuclear Sheep 2468, **I would have sent you a private message, but you disabled them! First years never make the house team, but I don't think that means they can't try out. But I could be wrong. Thanks for the review! :D**

** Chapter Nine: Boredom, Buckets, and Blame.**

Remus was on his feet again by Friday, he was still a little sore and tiered, but he was feeling pretty good. Especially when James and Sirius came to collect him. It was his fastest recovery to date, and his first at Hogwarts. It was making him feel pretty optimistic about the moons to come.

Madam Poomfry would have loved to make him stay another day, but in the end he convinced her. James and Sirius were given the task of making sure he stays off his leg, but really had no plan to enforce this unless they saw that their friend was in any sort of distress. After all, they weren't really ones to follow the rules.

They went to lessons as usual. Fridays were Defense, Charms, Potions, and then they had Astronomy later that night. But that wasn't until 11 o'clock so they were free after 2 to do as they pleased. Remus suggested that they go back to the dorm for a while so he could rest.

"I am so bored." Sirius sighed as he fell over into his bed, almost as soon as they all walked into the dorm. "What should we do?"

"Sirius, we haven't even been in here for five minutes." Remus chuckled.

"So? It doesn't make me any less bored." He sighed rolling over onto his stomach.

"Well, what do you want to do?" James asked plopping down on Remus' bed and grabbing a box of candy that was on Sirius' night stand. A muffled noise came from Sirius and Remus strained to hear what he was saying. James just rolled his eyes and popped some fizzing wizzbees into his mouth.

"Come again?" Remus asked after the muffled noises had ceased. Sirius rolled over and had a goofy grin on his face.

"We could plan out our next prank, seeing as how this last one went quite disastrously." He said as though this didn't upset him in the slightest, he was grinning at the already forming idea in his head. James nodded.

"Alright, any ideas?" He said offering the box of candies to Remus. Sirius noticed that they were his and raised an eyebrow at James.

"I hope you know that you are currently eating away at my stash that is to last me until Christmas."

"Write home and ask your parents to send you some." James shrugged.

"Why would they-" Sirius stopped mid sentence and looked down at his hands. "Yeah, I guess I could do that."

"Look, if it makes it up to you, when my mum gets around to sending the sweets she promised, I will share with you." James said popping another candy in his mouth. Sirius didn't say anything, and James continued to eat his candy.

"So, what is our next prank going to be?" Remus asked.

"Well, firstly, let's just keep this one between us. It's too much of a hassle to have to get everyone informed all the time." Sirius said pulling himself up and them readjusting so he was sitting cross legged.

"Yeah, alright." James said. "I don't think I can go through another fight between Orian and Stephan anyway."

"What?" Remus said looking between his two friends.

"Nothing. Hopefully it was something that you will never have to witness. Ten minutes of my life that I am never getting back." James grinned.

For the next hour and a half, they boys barricaded themselves in the corner of the room, whispering quietly just incase some one was to walk in. They laughed and joked, and tweaked until their plan was perfected. They didn't write anything down, incase the paper was to get miss placed, or stolen. But they did divvy up the supplies that each person should remember.

It was just a harmless prank, and they were going to do it later that day, right before dinner when no one was expecting it. Remus was surprised to find himself a bit excited to be helping James and Sirius with their plan. He was going to break the rules, and he was excited. There was a small voice in the back of his head telling him that he shouldn't do this when Dumbledore had gone through all the trouble to make special provisions just for Remus. He had built that old house, put spells on it, and hired Madam Poomfry. And Remus was going to deliberately break school rules. But Remus could barely hear that voice, all he could hear were James and Sirius' voice, spilling out the plans and laughing.

"What are you guys doing?" Frank said when he and Orian entered the room to find the three boys huddled together in the corner of the room. They all looked up at him and smiled.

"Nothing." They said together, and then they got up and moved apart. James picked up the empty candy boxes that were littering Remus' bed and Sirius watched him with a mundane expression on his face. He was trying not to get upset. After all James didn't get it. He didn't know how hard Sirius had had to work to get that candy. James got candy whenever he wanted.

Frank looked behind him at Orian and rolled his eyes. It was blatantly obvious to him what they were up to. Luckily for all of them, and the peace in the dorm, Orian didn't seem to catch on.

"Alright, so let's split up now and get what we need. Then we'll meet in the great hall in 30 minutes to set it up. No one should be there because, you know, dinner isn't till later." James whispered.

"Got it." Remus said smiling. Sirius nodded, smiling as well. He and James sure were becoming a bad influence for Remus.

"Hey Frank, want to help me with something?" Remus said standing up first and walking over to Frank and Orian.

"Sure. What do you need?" Frank said getting up and meeting Remus in the middle of the room.

"Come on." Remus said motioning to Frank to follow him and then walking out the door and down the stairs to the common room. Most of the Gryffindors were gathered here waiting for dinner to start, talking to friends, laughing, and doing home work. Lily sat in the corner of the room surrounded by a pile of books and a small blonde girl that appeared to be chewing her ear off while bouncing up and down.

Remus pulled Frank through the port hole and into the hallway. "We have something planned."

"I got that much." Frank said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "What is it?"

"We need to get a bucket." Remus said looking up and down the hall."

"Okay, what are we doing?"

"Something that is sure to be noticed this time." Remus smiled. "Nothing big. Nor harmful, just fun."

"Alright! What is it?" Frank said smiling, but growing a little impatient.

"Sorry. It's a muggle prank really. We are going to rig the door to the great hall so that the first student that walks in will get a bucket of water poured on their head."

"Nice." Frank said clapping his hands together and rubbing them together. "I hope it's that Slytherin kid, Avery."

"Which one is he?" Remus asked trying not to feel uncomfortable at Franks mention of his distaste for the Slytherins.

"The one that started the whole thing with Peter."

"The blonde?"

"Yeah. He really gets my blood boiling."

"He isn't very nice." Remus agreed. Frank had started walking towards the end of the hall, with Remus following him, not really paying much attention.

"So, if we're getting a bucket, what are James and Sirius doing?"

"James is going to get some rope. Sirius is going to the library to see if he can't find something to get the bucket up on top of the door. Seeing as how we are to short to reach."

"Oh. Well, here we are." Frank said stopping abruptly. Remus looked around. They were in a hallway with a large painting hanging on it. It had a troll in a tutu trying to learn ballet, and clubbing the instructor. Remus mentally kicked himself for not thinking to look in a broom closet in the first place.

Remus opened the door and found a stack of six or seven buckets in the back corner. He stepped inside and looked over them all before selecting the largest and walking back out.

Frank looked at the bucket, smiled and closed the door behind Remus. They turned and started to make their way back to the common room.

When they reached their destination, Remus realized how lucky they were not to have been spotted by any teachers, prefects, or the head girl or boy. It would have looked pretty strange to find a first year walking around with a large bucket.

Back in the dorm, James and Sirius were pouring over a book that Sirius had check out of the library. An abandoned rope lay lifelessly on James bed. When Frank and Remus entered, the two boys looked up and motioned them over. More of their dorm mates were in the room now and eyeing them suspiciously.

"What are you all doing? Can I help?" Peter asked coming up just at Frank and Remus reached Sirius' bed.

"No, we've got all the help we need." Sirius said coldly.

"Maybe next time Pete." James said smiling. Peter looked overjoyed at the new nick name and nodded.

"Yeah, next time." He said before walking away.

"Wait, you guys got something planned and you didn't tell us?" Stephen asked glaring at the four boys who were hunched over the spell book.

"It's nothing big, or worth getting worked up over." Sirius said in the same tone he had used with Peter.

"Well, I should get to help. I didn't get to help last time."

"Oh my goodness I forgot. Tell you what…" Sirius said and then abruptly stopped talking, eyes still on the pages in front of him. Stephen continued to glare at him for a few minutes before realizing that Sirius wasn't going to talk any more. He stomped his foot and then stormed out of the room.

"I think you guys shouldn't do anything." Carl said looking at the door that was just slammed. "I mean you guys were pretty lucky not to get caught last time. I heard the teachers talking about it. They noticed it early this morning and cleaned it up before the students saw. Who came up with the phrase?" James raised a hand and pointed to Sirius who was grinning. Obviously glad that their first prank hadn't gone completely unnoticed. "Gryffindors kick ass?" Carl said raising an eyebrow. "Not that I disagree, we are pretty cool, but why didn't you just write your names too? You guys are lucky that they thought it was some 6th years."

"No!" Sirius yelled. "I hate it when people get credit for what I did."

"Just be thankful they didn't think it was us!" James said shoving Sirius off the bed and flipping the page. Sirius was about to retaliate to with a shove at James when Remus' hand shot out and pointed at a spell on the page.

"There it is! Wengardium Leviosa. It makes things levitate."

"Well, let's practice." James said jumping off the bed and getting in the middle of the room. "We'll us the bucket, seeing as how that is what we are going to levitate anyway." He cleared his throat after pulling his wand out of his robes and pointed it at the bucket. "Wengardium Leviosa!" He said flicking his wand at the bucket. Nothing happened.

"Swish and flick." Remus said demonstrating the correct wand movements. James nodded and tried again. This time the bucket lifted into the air, appearing to have invisible strings tied to it, pulling it up. James laughed and got more daring. He swung the bucket around the room and made it fly up and down. Peter sat up on his bed and started clapping, this only encouraged James more. Sirius jumped up and told James to put the bucket down.

"I want to try something." He said, glancing at the book on his bed once more before walking back over. James made the bucket drop to the floor at Sirius' feet. "Aguamente Maximus." He muttered moving his wand in a sharp jab. Water instantly started pouring out the end of his wand and the bucket filled.

"Brilliant. Now we don't have to fill it up at the facet." James said rolling his eyes.

"Well, if I did that right, this is going to be better then we originally thought." Sirius said with a wide grin. "Though I will admit, I should have done it when we got down there."

"You don't say." Frank said looking down at the large bucket, slopping with water.

Remus didn't know how, but eventually they got the bucket down to the great hall. It was deserted, just as they had hoped. They quietly opened the left side of the door and slid in. They set up their trap over the right side of the door so that when it was opened, the water would pour down on its unsuspecting victim. They left just as quietly as they came in, they used the left door again, as not to set the trap off on themselves.

"This is going to be great." Frank said smiling.

"I know. I really hope that this one works this time." Sirius said looking back as though he could see through the wall, and make sure the bucket was still over the door.

"We just have to make sure to look shocked when it happens." James said as they walked away from the incriminating device. "Let's go hang outside instead of going all the way back up to the dorm. Dinner is soon anyway and it's nice out. Maybe we can go down to the pitch?"

"Sure James." Remus said. "Are you ready for the trials tomorrow?" At mention of the try outs, James turned an odd shade of green.

"I don't know." He muttered looking at the ground. Remus smiled, knowing his friend didn't want to admit how nervous he really was. Quidditch was much more important to James then Remus could even begin to comprehend.

"You'll do brilliantly." Remus said. "I haven't seen anyone fly as well as you." If James knew how empty this compliment was, he wouldn't have been so pleased to hear him say that. Remus had actually never seen anyone fly, or even been on a broom before he came to Hogwarts.

"You think?" He asked with his cocky grin back in place.

"I don't know." Sirius mocked. "You might not be able to get your fat head off the ground." James pushed him, and the two proceeded to shove each other all the way down to the Quidditch pitch.

A little less then an hour later, the boys made their way back to the great hall for dinner looking rather windswept. They had wanted to come early enough to see who the unsuspecting victim was. Much to there excitement, no one had used the rigged door yet. Everybody was using the right door. This was usual. The students would all try and pour in the one door, and ignore the other one until someone pointed out that it would be more prudent to use both doors.

James, Sirius, Frank, and Remus all made their way over to the Gryffindor table, being careful not to look back to check the trap. Only once they were seated at the table could James and Sirius give a small nod to show that is was in fact, still there. Remus and Frank were seated on the opposite side of the table as them, so they didn't dare turn all the way around to look.

Another plus was that no one around them seemed to notice the bucket. They were all just filing in and taking their seats.

Remus turned his head slightly and looked up at the staff table, and felt his stomach drop as he did so. McGonagall and Flitwick had their eyes zoned in on the bucket and were having a whispered conversation. Then McGonagall got up briskly, and walked down the few steps that brought her down to ground level. She started making her way towards the door. Remus quickly turned his head back towards his friends.

"She knows." Remus whispered in a dejected tone.

"What?" Sirius asked before he too saw McGonagall walking past them towards the door. James stomped his foot and them turned his head away so he wouldn't have to watch all their hard work being thrown away. Frank cussed.

McGonagall was still making her way through the crowed hall towards the door, and she had attracted much attention as she did so. All the while, students were whispering and pointing. They were wondering who was going to get it. They didn't notice the bucket looming over head.

McGonagall was steps away from reaching the door when it opened. The unsuspecting person who walked through didn't have time to get out of the way for as soon as the door opened the bucket tipped over, and the water came rushing out at a great speed.

Sirius nudged James, who was already looking do to all the commotion that he heard around him. Their prank had been a success. They both had to bite their lips to conceal their smiles.

The water kept coming to, and it didn't stop when it seemed as though the bucket should have been empty. When it became apparent that the water probably wasn't going to stop James smiled at Sirius, and mouthed, 'The Spell?" Sirius nodded.

McGonagall, who had been taken quiet by surprise, was just standing there and watching the scene unfold, but was quickly shaken out of her shock when the victim started screaming. It wasn't the kind of scream one make when they are scared, or in pain, this was a scream of pure rage.

McGonagall flicked her wand and the water came to an abrupt stop. Only drips falling down from the bucket and landing on the head of the distressed student.

The doused red head just stood there with her hands balled into fists at her sides, and her jaw clenched together. She looked around the great hall and huffed. And that was when everybody erupted into laughter. The poor girl brushed her hair out of her face before turning around on the spot and storming out of the great hall.

Severus quickly got up from the Slytherin table and ran after her.

It took some time for the students to calm down, but a stern glare from McGonagall sure helped. Soon the hall was deathly quiet. "I want to know who is responsible for this." She said slowly, articulating every syllable. Nobody moved. James, Sirius, Frank, and Remus didn't even chance a glance at each other, quite afraid that any move they made would be a dead give away. "No one is going to come forward? Well, we are all going to stay here until somebody owns up to it. And dinner will have to wait as well."

The hall was in complete silence for about five minutes. Everybody was looking around their table, at their friends, asking if anybody knew who had pulled this off.

McGonagall slowly made her way back up to the staff table; she let her eyes drift over every student as she walked by them. When her eyes landed on Remus, he couldn't help but think that her gaze stayed on him for just a while longer then it had everybody else. He could see that she was quiet upset with who ever had done this, but he didn't look away, he knew that it would be quite suspicious if he did.

Once she made it up to the table, she turned around to face the students, crossing her arms tightly in front of her; she gave a rather believable impression of a hawk. The silence was becoming extremely unbearable under her unyielding gaze. "I can start taking away privileges if no one wants to come forward." Everybody started muttering to each other at this.

"Somebody just say that they did it!" Somebody whispered from a little ways up the table from where the guilty party was sitting.

Remus felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg as he felt Carl's foot make contact with it. He looked over at Carl who raised his eyebrows, Remus shook his head. If he told everyone that he did it, she would want to know who helped him.

"No one will come forward still?" She asked raising her eyebrows in apparent disbelief. "Alright, everybody will be serving a detent-"

"It was me Professor." A clear voice came from the mist of all the muttering students. Every eye turned to who had so boldly stood up and claimed the guilt.

**AN: Hey, so who do you think it going to confess? Let me know what you though about this chapter. Hope you liked it personally. Please Review.**

**~Craz**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Here you go everyone, thanks for the reviews, hope it's not too much to ask for some more! Hope you like this chapter. I am going to have to skip a bunch of time eventually, hopefully in this chapter. I mean I have taken 10 chapters on the first 5 days. This can't go on or else this story will be like 200 chapters and that is a bit insane.**

** Also, I am thinking of posting new chapters both Saturday and Sunday from now on, still one in the middle of the week too, but that way there are three chapters a week. I am going to **_**try**_** anyway. **

**Oh and I hope you catch the reference I make to the chamber of secrets. The first one to guess gets to be featured in my next authors note! :D But you have to be specific. It's defiantly from the movie, but I don't know about the book. Checking…yep, it's in the books to.**

** Oh, again, there is going to be more Lily in this chapter, much more, and some of her friends. Hope you like that.**

** Chapter Ten: The Red Envelope **

Every eye in the great hall was on James as he stood up from his place on the bench. "It was me. If you are going to punish somebody, punish me." He wasn't trembling, nor did he look at all nervous. Frank, Sirius, and Remus all looked at James with complete shock.

"You did this?" McGonagall asked motioning to the bucket.

"Yes ma'am. I thought it would be funny." James said shrugging.

"Alright Mr. Potter. Do you mind telling me the spell that caused that much water to come out of the bucket then?" She asked with one arched brow. James froze. He had heard Sirius mutter it while they were in the room, why couldn't he remember it? "No, well then explain to me how you were able to put the bucket in place when I myself, saw you and your friends in the Quidditch pitch." James was beside himself. Here he was, confessing to the prank that he had indeed taken part in, and she didn't believe that he had done it.

"I did it before-" James tried, but McGonagall cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. I appreciate you trying to prevent your fellow students from getting into trouble, but I don't want to hear it. Please sit back down."

"But professor, it really was me."

"I told you to be quiet James."

"But-!"

"You are banned from the Quidditch pitch until next week. Now please be quiet."

James sat back down slowly. Sirius looked at him and shrugged. James didn't think this was fair. He knew that he had gotten out of trouble, but he was a bit insulted. Professor McGonagall didn't think that James was capable of doing the spell; she didn't think that he could have pulled this off. Part of him knew this was a blessing in disguise because if his parent found out, he would be in a heap of trouble, but he was a little too angry to care. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Aquamente Maximus." A fellow Gryffindor said standing up. It was Richard Smith, the boy who had told them about Slughorn's Slug club.

McGonagall studies his face for a moment. She could tell that he wasn't the guilty party, but what was she going to do, he had confessed, he was more then capable of performing the needed spells, and he could have done something like this. "Very well Mr. Smith. Come with me." She said with pursed lips, walking out of the great hall with Richard walking behind her. Sometimes McGonagall hated it when her students were so noble.

James watched Richard walk out of the hall and made a mental note to thank him later.

As soon as McGonagall was gone, the hall started talking again. And this gave the four boys a chance to talk to each other.

"I can't believe you did that!" Sirius said punching James' arm.

"Somebody had to, and we actually did do it." He said rubbing his arm and avoiding Sirius' glare. "I can't believe that she didn't believe me." He said more quietly.

"You aren't actually upset that you didn't get in trouble, are you?" Frank asked raising his eyebrows.

"No, it's just… I don't know. Now Richard is going to get into trouble for something we did, I feel bad."

"Well, we can tell Richard the truth and thank him. Other then that, there's not much else we can do." Remus said reaching for some food that had just appeared on all the tables. The boys sat in silence for a minute, letting James sulk. Then his face broke out into a large grin.

"I don't know about you, but I couldn't be happier with who it was that triggered it." He said. "Lily Evans. I like her."

"Yeah, I can tell by how much it pleases you to have dumped a bucket of water on her head." Frank said rolling his eyes.

"Whatever." James said still smiling.

"Nice prank guys." Orian said. It seemed that he had gotten over his anger at them. "That was you guys right?"

"Yeah, thanks." James said. "Sorry we didn't let you help."

"No problem, I probably would have peed myself once she started staring us down like that." He laughed.

And for the rest of dinner, they told everyone that asked what had actually happened and relived it, soaking up their secret fifteen minutes of fame.

It wasn't until the next day that James realized that he had indeed gotten punished. He was making his way down to the Quidditch try-outs when McGonagall came up to him, Remus, and Sirius.

"Where do you think you are going James?" She asked.

"To try-outs ma'am. I plan on becoming a chaser for the house team."

"Well, normally I would have wished you luck and sent you on your way, but you are banned from the Quidditch pitch, remember?" James froze, all the color drained from his face and he could feel his friend's gazes on the back of his head. James had spent the first week talking of little else but the Quidditch try-outs.

"But it's try-outs ma'am." James whispered, forcing the words out.

"Yes, I am afraid that it is." She said before walking off towards her classroom.

"Aw James-" Sirius started, but James put a hand up and walked away from them. Remus and Sirius understood that this meant that he just wanted some space. So they left him alone, not seeing him again until dinner, where he was trying very hard to act like his normal self, not wanting anyone to bring up the try-outs.

Lily Evans came in and sat down right next to him. He thought this was just a coincidence and smiled at his friends.

"I heard that you confessed to that thing over the door yesterday." She said turning her icy glare at him. James felt his insides momentarily freeze for the second time today, but then put a smile on his face and nodded. "Glad you're proud of yourself. I just want to let you know that you should sleep with one eye open from now on. Got it Potter?"

"I got it _Evans_." James laughed. Lily got up and walked over to sit down next to her bouncing blonde friend and another Gryffindor girl.

It was sometime in the middle of the second week of school when James and Remus started to notice that Sirius would hold his breath while the morning post would come in.

"What's the problem?" James asked as he untied a letter that his parents had sent him. He rubbed the owls head and then put the letter aside so he could finish his breakfast before reading it. Sirius muttered something that neither James nor Remus could hear.

"Come again." Remus said smiling.

"_I said_ that I am expecting something in the mail soon." He growled. This was quickly followed by a groans as a large black owl came flying towards him and tug its large claws into the table in front of him.

"Now that is what I call instant service." James laughed until he saw what the bird was holding in its out stretched leg. "What? Who would be sending you one of those?"

"One of what?" Remus asked looking at the red envelope and not noting the significance.

"And just when I was starting to hope that they forgot about me." Sirius sighed reaching out and grabbing the letter. He had never received one of these before, seeing as how this was the first time his mother couldn't just yell at him in person. Sirius was hoping that she would refrain from sending one to keep the name of Black clean. But he knew that it was too much to ask for seeing as how his mother was a firm believer in public humiliation.

It had started smoking now and Sirius knew what was coming. This was the first time Sirius had ever wished that he was in the Hufflepuff. If he had been that close to the door, he could have taken the letter and ran out of the hall and listened to the letter in private.

He broke the seal that held the envelope closed and the hall was suddenly filled with the screaming voice of his mother.

"SIRIUS BLACK! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? DO YOU KNOW HOW OUTRAGED YOUR FATHER AND I ARE AT YOUR INSULENCE? _**GYRFFINDOR**_! OF ALL THE BLOODY HOUSES IN THAT GOD FOR SAKEN SCHOOL, YOU GET YOURSELF PUT IN _**GRYFFINDOR!**_ I AM STARTING TO QUEISION, YET AGAIN, IF YOU ARE EVEN MY BIRTH CHILD! BECAUSE NO CHILD OF MINE GET'S BUT IN SUCH A LOW CLASS HOUSE OF PEOPLE. THEY LET MUDBLOODS IN THAT HOUSE. YOU BETTER HOPE THAT YOU AREN'T MAKING FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT, IF YOU ARE I SWEAR…" The letter made a weird hissing noise and then paused. The howler had successfully captured the entire great halls attention. And some of them were still wincing at the use of the word 'mudblood.' But then the letter continued.

"AND THEN I DON'T EVEN HEAR OF THIS FROM YOU, NO, YOUR COUSIN BELLA HAS TO TELL ME. DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT MAKES ME FEEL? IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE YOU BETTER THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS THAT YOU ARE AT THAT _SCHOOL_ AND NOT AT HOME.

YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO US ALL, SHAME AND DISMAY. I HOPE THAT YOU ARE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU DID, BECAUSE YOUR FATHER AND I WERE SO CLOSE TO CUTTING YOU OFF FOR GOOD. NO SKIN OF MY BACK TO MAKE ANOTHER BURN MARK IN THE FAMILY TREE.

I SWEAR IF YOU SET ONE MORE TOE OUT OF LINE AND YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT COMING HOME FOR CHIRSTMAS. MAYBE IT WILL DO YOU SOME GOOD TO BE LOCKED UP IN A CASTLE FOR THE HOLIDAYS."

At this point the James and Remus were sitting next to Sirius with their mouths hanging open. It went on for another few minutes yelling out retched insults at Sirius, the whole time he just sat there and took it. He didn't move a muscle, knowing that it was best not to try and listen to every word but instead, try and let the roll off him. When the letter finally stopped yelling, Sirius brushed the ashes onto the floor and started to eat breakfast as though nothing had happened.

Remus was staring at his friend, not knowing what he should say when James tried first. "Sirius, I didn't know that you were being serious about your family. I am so-"

"Please don't." Sirius said not meeting his friend's worried eyes. James dropped his head and nodded. Remus just sat there, not knowing what he should do.

A few seats down, Lily was trying hard to figure out why anyone would talk to their son like that, and why they had cared so much about which house he was put in. She really didn't like Black, or Potter for that matter, but she would never have wished what she had just witnessed on anybody. She heard snickers coming from the table behind her and turned around.

"What's the matter cousin?" A tall seventh year girl cooed. She had her dark hair falling over half of her face, and her eyes were screaming danger. Lily quickly looked away. "Not so cocky now, are you?"

"Don't talk to students like that Bellatrix." Author Weasly said standing up.

"What are you going to do Author. Give me a detention? Do it, I dare you." She had almost a bored look on her face; her lips added a pouty sort of look to it.

"Detention Miss. Black." Slughorn's voice rang out over the silent hall. Bellatrix looked up quite surprised to be surrounded by students and teacher. She smiled at Professor Slughorn before turning back to one of her fellow Slytherins and whispering something in their ear. The girl laughed and then she and Bella got up and left the great hall.

The whole time that this was going on, Sirius had his head buried in his food, refusing to look up at anyone. Determined to act as though nothing had happened. This was hard because even the teachers didn't know what they should do.

Lily looked on at him with pity. She knew that he wouldn't want her pity, but she couldn't help it. She heard a noise over on her right and turned her head to see Carlee digging her finger nails into the table.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked in surprise. Carlee looked down at the table and saw that there were claw marks. She smiled sheepishly, and pushed her blonde hair out of her face.

"Oops." She said and then reached for her cup of pumpkin juice. Lily kept looking at her friend, but she just kept drinking from her cup.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, feeling as though she were asking the obvious question.

"It was just an accident." Carlee said smiling. "Do you think I wanted to do that?"

"I think you did it for some reason." Lily said sternly.

"Well, just drop it please." Carlee muttered picking up her fork and poking her eggs. After a moment in silence, Lily gave in.

"Fine." She sighed and then turned around and started talking to Coral and Savannah.

Mary Macdonald walked over and sat next to them all soon. "That was really something, don't you think?" She asked raising both eyebrows. "I can't believe that that woman has the nerve to shout the word," She looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper, "mudblood, in a howler that is going to go off in a school full of children, some of whom are muggle born. Who does she think she is?" Her voice make to it's normal volume after she said the foul word.

"I don't know." Lily sighed. "I can't believe she would say those things to her own kid." Lily saw Carlee flinch next to her. She turned her head and looked at her usually bubbly bouncing friend. There was something wrong with her today, and it hadn't started until after the letter came.

"Yeah, my mom won't even raise her voice at me if we are in public." Coral added. "She's way against airing our dirty laundry in public. She just wants everyone to think that our life is completely perfect." She rolled her purplish blue eyes.

"Let's talk about something else." Lily said still eyeing the silent blonde. Mary seemed to catch Lily's drift because she flawlessly changed the subject to the charms assignment that Flitwick had set for them.

Thursday was Lily's favorite day for classes. They had Charms first, followed by double potions, and then History of Magic. Being a muggle born and interested in History, she absolutely loved this class. She liked charms because they came rather naturally to her and potions because it was one of the few classes she had with Sev, her best friends of almost two years now. He was the one who had told her that she was a witch and informed her all about Hogwarts. So even though she was in Gryffindor, and he was in Slytherin and they were supposed to hate each other, they still hung out every day.

Lilly and Carlee walked next to each other as they made their way to Charms. Savannah and Coral were right in front of them talking about their essays, and Mary had run off to find Ella, Carlee's sister and Mary's best friends. Usually Ella and Carlee would wait for each other after meals if they hadn't sat next to each other, so that they could walk to class together. They were twins, and had informed everyone that they were also best friends on the first day that they had arrived at Hogwarts. But today Carlee just kept walking. And Lily was afraid that it had something to do with Sirius' howler. But Lily wasn't going to push it. She had pretty much just met Carlee, they were friends, but not that close yet.

When they reached Flitwick's classroom, Lilly went to go sit in her normal seat in the front of the room. Mary took a seat on her right and Savannah on her left. It took her a minute to notice that Carlee was no where around her.

"We'll just let him have some space." Lily heard a familiar voice come from behind her. She spun around to see James and Remus take seats next to each other in the row right behind them. "I mean, he tried to tell us didn't he. I thought he was just joking. I hope I didn't mess things up to much."

"You didn't." Remus said. "Sirius was joking when he was talking about his family, he wasn't going to come out and tell us how awful they are was he?"

"I guess not. But urg! If I ever see that woman!" James sounded furious. For a moment, Lily was in aw at James' words. He really did care about his friend and that made Lily almost smile. Then she caught James eye and he smirked. "So that's how you dealt with me?"

Lily was momentarily at a loss until James held up an opened letter and she found herself blushing.

"You told my mum?" He asked raising his eye brows.

"So? What's wrong with that?" She challenged.

"Nothing. But you don't want to start something you can't finish. If this is the best you've got then this isn't even going to be a challenge."

"Oh please, I just didn't want to waste my time on you thinking up something clever. I have got better things to do you know."

"Sure." James smiled. Lily was about to retort when she caught sight of Carlee in the back of the room. This would have been alright, seeing as how she was acting like she needed some space all morning, but she was sitting next to Sirius. Lily gasped. James turned around and looked at his friend. Then he turned backed smirking. "What, my friends aren't good enough for yours." Then his expression hardened, his eyes darkened. "You don't believe what his mum said about him do you? He's a good guy-"

"No Potter that's not it. I didn't like him before the letter. He's friends with you, can't really be that great." James grinned again; Lily just rolled her eyes and turned back towards the front of the class room.

"Why thank you for the high compliment Evans." James whispered. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from saying anything else.

**AN: So, I hope you like it. I added in Carlee. She isn't in the books, nor does she actually exist. But I want her to be a main character so I hope you all like her. If you don't yet, I will make you fall in love with her soon. Please review, and tell me what you think! I love hearing from you all! :D**

** ~Craz**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Here is the next chapter, I hope you like this one. Thanks for all the reviews, really appreciate it. **

**Nobody won though. The reference to the chamber was part of the howler. When she said, 'if you put one more toe out of line,' Mrs. Weasly says that to Ron, only tells him he'll have to come home where as Mrs. Black says that Sirius will have to stay at school. Any way, getting on with the chapter. :D**

** Chapter Eleven: Slytherin Blood runs Thin**

Sirius had purposely sat far away from his friends when they all walked down to charms together. It wasn't that he was upset with them, he was just really, really angry with his mother. How could she embarrass him in front of the whole school like that? How was he going to face going to potions for two whole hours with the Slytherins. They were going to say something, and they would be discrete, so Slughorn won't catch them. Sirius could only control his temper for so long before he ended up lashing out and getting himself into trouble. And if he got in trouble, his mother would hear about it and then he would get another howler, and this was suddenly looking like the beginning of a never ending cycle.

Hogwarts was supposed to be his sanctuary, a place where he wouldn't have to deal with all the family drama. He was safe behind the walls for the most part, but now he knew that there was no true escape from her verbal abuse. His mother would always be there telling him what to do for as long as he continued to disagree, disobey, and disappoint.

But he couldn't change the way he felt. The harder she tried to pull him in, the further she ended up pushing him away. He resented her and began to connect everything she did to the life style that all the Black's led. He was more then thankful for the chance to go to Hogwarts, and was already dreading the time when he would have to return for Christmas. Sirius shook his head and put it in his hands dejectedly.

He had been shocked when some girl sat down next to him. He was quite sure he looked very angry, and therefore unapproachable. He had been told numerous times that he looked almost scary when he was angry, but this girl just walked up and sat down next to him. She didn't look at him, she didn't try and talk to him, she just sat there. So Sirius took her lead and didn't say anything to her either.

"Umm…Carlee?" What looked like her mirror image said softly, walking up to her and stopping in front of the wooden desk. "Don't you want to come and sit by me and the others?"

"No Ella. I am going to sit here." She said quietly. Her tone was strained; she was trying very hard not to be harsh. Sirius watched them both with a sort of curious look on his face. The girl next to him seemed angry as well. What did she have to be angry about? Her mother didn't send her a howler.

"Alright then." She looked over at Sirius and frowned. 'And so it begins.' He thought bitterly. The muttering, the staring, and the judgment. Everything he wanted to avoid at Hogwarts. Then she leaned close to her sister and whispered quietly so that Sirius couldn't hear her, but he still did. "Do you want to talk after class?" Sirius heard Carlee sigh. It was almost inaudible and sounded apologetic.

"No Ella. I am sorry. I just want to sit back here today alright. I am fine, really." She tried to smile up at her sister who was still frowning. Ella nodded and then left to go and sit by Mary up in the front of the room.

They still sat in silence waiting for Flitwick to start class. Neither one of them wanted to say anything to the other.

"Alright class! Today we are going to learn the levitating spell. Wingardium Leviosa." Flitwick announced coming out of his office and stopping at his desk where he stepped up onto a stool so that he could see all of the students. Sirius cracked a grin and saw James turn around to look at him.

"So it really was you guys then?" Carlee whispered while Flitwick went on talking about the correct wand movements and such.

"What?" Sirius asked turning to look at her. Her blue eyes bore into his. He was surprised by the lack of judgment he saw looking back at him.

"The trick, with Lily. You guys did that?"

"Oh, yeah." He said looking away. He felt uncomfortable under her stare, like she was getting to know too much. The way she had been looking at him, she seemed to be reading him, seeing right through the charade. He didn't like it. "It wasn't meant for Lily in particular, just anyone who opened that door."

"Yeah, I figured. Lily's pretty sure that you are all out to get her though."

"She shouldn't flatter herself so much." Sirius said carefully looking back at Carlee, making sure that he didn't look in her eyes to long.

"That's what I told her." She gave him a small smile, only a bit more real then the one she gave her sister. "Real lucky that McGonagall didn't think you could actually do that."

"That's what I said, but James was a bit insulted by her lack of faith." Sirius said smiling back. "I told him that it was good to hide under the, 'we are only first years' thing for as long as we can."

"So you are planning on doing more pranks?" Carlee asked picking up her wand and twirling it around in her hand absent mindedly.

"Sure, we've got to do something to keep our minds busy."

"The school work not enough for you?"

"Not really."

"Right." She said rolling her eyes. Sirius laughed.

"Excuse me, please pay attention." Flitwick called from the front of the room.

"Sorry." Sirius said trying to stop smiling. He saw that Ella was turned around in her seat looking up at her sister and him. She was smiling as well, and then she shook her head and turned back around. Sirius didn't understand this gesture. Ella had previously been somewhat annoyed that Carlee had chosen to sit next to him instead of near her. No not annoyed, but sad almost. He chose not to dwell on the matter though, because honestly, they were girls, how far was he going to get?

After class Sirius found himself in a much better mood then he had been coming into class. Carlee made him smile, and eventually she got him to laugh again. This was during the practical part of the lesson so they didn't get reprimanded like the first time. She didn't mention the letter that his mother sent him once, even though Sirius had some inkling that that was the reason that she had decided to sit next to him in the first place. She didn't treat him like a stuck up pure blood either, which had been one of Sirius' fears. He had worked very hard to shatter that image of himself and his mother had pieced it back together in just one morning. Sirius wanted to ask her why she was doing this, but he didn't want to ruin it.

James came up to him once they were in the hall, already walking to Potions. Carlee was still with him. Ella, Mary, and Lily seemed like they wanted to come and collect her, but she waved them off. James and Remus didn't mention that they thought it a bit strange for her to join them on their walk to the dungeons. On the contrary, they were quite pleased that she had fixed their friend so quickly that they were eager to get to know a bit more about her.

"Way to beat Sirius in the feather races." Remus said referring to the game that Sirius and Carlee had invented once she had figured out how to do the spell. They had sent their feathers zooming a crossed the room as quickly as they could manage and see whose would hit the wall first. "All but one time I think right?" She smiled at him and nodded.

"Well, I am pretty good." She said breathing on her knuckles and brushing them on her shoulder.

"No kidding." Said James walking up on the other side of her. Sirius was on her left side and Remus next to him.

"Thanks guys." Sirius said, bumping into Carlee so she would bump into James. James was about to push her back to do the same when she stopped walking and he fell into Sirius instead.

"Well played." James said smirking up at Carlee.

"I've got quite a few brothers; I am a master at this game."

"We'll see." Sirius said, grinning mischievously.

By the time they got down to the dungeons, Sirius had all but forgotten the howler.

"Alright, well I think that I should sit with my sister and the gang before they all have a heart attack. Sitting with one of you is one thing, but all of you… they couldn't handle that." She said sucking in air through her teeth.

"Well, if you must." Remus said.

"I think we'll be okay." James said putting one hand over his heart and the other wiped away an imaginary tear. Carlee laughed at them. She was quite surprised how easy it was to talk with them. They all seemed to be a nice bunch of outgoing guys. She couldn't see why Lily disliked James so much, even if he had set up the prank.

"Shut up you two." Sirius said waving to Carlee as she walked off to sit next to Lily, who was giving her friend an odd look.

Sirius looked around the room for an empty table before he spotted Peter waving them over towards the corner of the room. He sighed, really wishing that there was another option, and then walked over to him, knowing that Remus and James were following him.

Peter smiled brightly when the boys sat down, Sirius sat on the other side of the table, and James next to him, which left Remus to sit next to Peter. He smiled warmly at the blue eyed boy, and muttered a thanks.

"It was no problem at all really." Peter muttered trying very hard to keep eye contact with Remus. Sirius didn't even try and refrain himself from rolling his eyes.

The muttering started as soon as the Slytherins made their way to their seats. Slughorn eyed Sirius uncomfortably and tried to get everybody to be quiet, but seeing as how he hadn't started the lesson yet, nobody was listening to him. Things like 'blood traitor,' 'as good as a mudblood,' and 'there goes another perfectly good blood line' all found there way to Sirius' ears. James gave wicked looks to all the people he saw whispering behind their hands, just loud enough for everybody to hear, but other then that, he didn't know what else he could do.

"Hey look, it's Black, the great and noble _disappointment_." Chris Henson sneered at him. Avery walked next to him and snickered.

"Find your seats please." Slughorn said looking pointedly at the two boys who were in his own house. Ambition was something that Slughorn loved, but sometimes he didn't like being the head of Slytherin. Especially when they all ganged up on one kid. That wasn't ambition, it was just cruel.

"Fine." Avery spat and the two of them strutted over to the other side of the room. As they walked past Carlee's table, she stuck her leg out and tripped Henson. As he was falling he grabbed Avery and they both fell into a heap on the ground at her feet.

"Oops!" She said bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, feigning innocence. She looked over at Sirius who gave her a grateful smile. She just winked back at him.

"You _bitch_!" Avery shouted pushing himself up off the floor and pulling out his wand, pointing it directly at Carlee, who hardly flinched.

"Excuse me!" She hissed jumping out of her seat, leaving her wand on the desk.

"Don't talk to her like that." Ella said jumping to her sister's defense.

"Oh, and what are you two going to do about it? Tell one of your brothers? You really think there are going to help you?" Henson cried getting up off the floor.

"Did we say that we were going to ask for their help?" Carlee said glaring at them.

"No we didn't." Ella said with just as much venom. Slughorn was quite taken back. He wasn't used to first years getting into such squabbles, especially tiny blonde girls, with two larger boys. The whole scene looked almost comical.

"Now students." He tried desperately taking a step towards them.

"We don't really need their help anyway." Carlee growled, ignoring Slughorn's feeble attempts to regain control.

"I'd watch it if I were you. You wouldn't want your mummy sending you a letter like his." Henson said jabbing a thumb in Sirius' direction. He smiled as he noticed that he was getting to her. "God knows that would be nothing compared to-"

"Don't talk about things that you haven't a clue." Ella said quickly, trying to bring Carlee's attention away from the howler. But it was too late. Carlee's face pinched as her rage over took her. She looked down at her empty hands, realizing that she didn't have her wand, and then closed them into tight fists. She drew her arm back and then brought her fist forward into Henson's face.

"Miss. Baker!" Slughorn yelled as he rushed forward to help the mangled boy off the floor. His nose had made a loud crack and now there was blood dripping from his face. "Detention for the three of you!" He cried desperately. "Avery, please take your friend to the hospital wing."

"You're going to pay for that." Avery said, pointing his wand at Carlee with anger clearly evident on his face.

"Avery!" Slughorn yelled. "Put your wand down, I don't want you pointing it at her!"

Sirius was on his feet before he knew what he was doing, marching over towards Avery. "Don't threaten her." He muttered angrily and as Avery turned around his face made contact with Sirius fist. Avery fell over holding his eye.

"Detention Black!" Slughorn shouted. "Now if you don't knock this off, I will go and get the Headmaster!" He looked completely exasperated, and was pulling on his hair. "Avery, Henson, go to the hospital wing. Black, Baker, Potter, please take your seats."

Everyone was looking at their deranged teacher; Carlee and Ella were the first ones to take their seats. Then Avery and Henson started walking towards the door to leave. Sirius turned around and was surprised to see that James was right behind him.

"Wasn't going to let you go alone." James shrugged, as though he could read Sirius' mind. "Though, it doesn't look like you needed my help."

"Thanks." Sirius muttered looking at the ground.

Class was very anticlimactic after that.

When the bell finally rang and they all left Sirius found that he was, once again, in a bad mood. He didn't notice Carlee waiting for him at the door.

"Nice punch." She said falling into step beside him. He jerked his head over to look at her. She was smiling again, looking almost determined.

"You too." He laughed disbelievingly. Why the heck was she so happy? Avery had made so angry as to punch him in the face, she had been confronted about something she and her sister obviously didn't want other people to know about, and she had gotten detention. He rolled his eyes.

"What?" She said.

"Why are you smiling?"

"We put Avery and Henson in the hospital. Why aren't you smiling?" He looked at her for a moment before cracking a smile. She was defiantly an optimistic one.

"Good point." He laughed for real this time. "Can we wait for James and Remus; I kind of stormed out without them."

"Sure." She said leaning up against a wall. He just looked at her. Now that he was in a better mood, and not sulking about what was happening to him, he was able to think more about what actually happened in class. What had Avery meant when he brought up him getting a howler? Why had that upset her so much? And the look on her face when he mentioned her mother.

"Detention should be interesting." He said trying to bring up the topic.

"If he's smart he'll give us to McGonagall." She said smiling.

"I don't want to be handed over to her!" He knew then, that she wasn't going to let him bring it up.

"I'll cry and she'll let off easy." She said nonchalantly.

"Sure she will."

"There you are." James said coming around the corner and spotting Sirius and Carlee. "What are you, a portable anti-depressant?"

"I am many things. That just happens to be one of them." Carlee said wryly.

"Right." Remus said smiling. Peter was hiding behind him.

"Hey." Carlee said spotting him. "I'm Carlee. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too. I'm Peter." He muttered not looking at her.

"You are going to sit with us at lunch, right?" Remus asked.

"Don't see why not." Carlee said looking at the four boys in front of her.

"Good." Sirius said smiling, and then they started off for the great hall.

"Carlee and Sirius sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" James conducted another courses as Sirius walked out of the bath room after showering. Sirius threw the first thing he could reach at his best friend and then told the rest of them to sod off.

"Language Sirius." Remus chided. "Carlee might not like it if you talk like that."

"Oh shut up Remus." Sirius said throwing a pillow at him. He just caught it and threw it back at the poor boy they had been harassing for the last hour or so. He had to hand it to Sirius, he was being a pretty good sport. "We were just talking, that doesn't mean that I like her." He said as if he was trying to explain that two and two is four.

"You punched Avery in the face for threatening her." Ian laughed, this point had already been brought up a few times, but they hadn't exhausted it yet.

"Yeah about an hour after you met her too. You've got it bad." James agreed shaking his head at him.

"I do not. You got up to help her too!" Sirius said pointing at James.

"No, I got up to help you. Your pretty and all, but I don't like you." James said quickly before Sirius could say anything. "I told you earlier, I like Lily."

"Well, that's great, but I don't like Carlee." Frank and Stephan looked at each other before looking back at Sirius.

"Denial!" They said at the same time, causing the other boys to crack up. Sirius cracked a smile as well.

"You are all awful you know that?" He laughed crawling into bed.

"Yeah, we know." James said also getting into bed.

"But you love us." Remus said audaciously.

"No, he loves Carlee." Frank laughed. This caused them all to crack up again.

"I do prefer her to you lot." Sirius said before leaning over and flicking the light off.

"So you admit it, you like her?" James said sitting up straight in bed, this was what he was aiming for, for the last hour.

"No James, I really don't like her. I just want to be friends with her."

"You like her." James repeated for the umpteenth time that night with a tone of complete over confidence.

"Whatever James."

"Whatever right back at you lover boy." James grinned, bracing himself for what ever Sirius was going to throw his way. But it never came. James smiled and lay back down in his bed. So he was completely thrown off guard when Sirius jumped on top of him and started to wrestle him. Soon they were both on the floor laughing.

"Take it back." Sirius laughed shoving James.

"Can't mate, sorry. It's to true to take back." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to bed now." He said getting back into his bed. "I don't like her."

"Okay Sirius, you win." James smirked.

"Thank you."

"He was only kidding." Remus laughed from some where in the dark.

"Again, you guys suck." Sirius said rolling over onto his side. He listened as his roommates all snickered in the dark. He really didn't like Carlee like they said.

**AN: Okay, so this chapter had a lot of Carlee in it. I was reluctant to put her in at first because I didn't want to change everything, but something's are going to be different, but all the big things are going to stay the same, for the most part. James is still going to be with Lily, the marauders, the map, the werewolf thing. It's all the same, with another person in the plot. Let me know what you think. Next chapter is going to be a bit about the start of Voldemort. I don't know when he actually started his terrorizing of people, but he started gaining followers after Dumbledore refused to hire him, so I figure that he started some time after that, why not now?**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here is Chapter Twelve! Thanks again for all the reviews. Love you guys.**

** Chapter Twelve: A Wee Bit of an Over Reaction**

A few weeks later, after the whole Carlee and Sirius commotion had died down, it became a normal occurrence for Carlee to be seen with James, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and any of the other Gryffindor boys.

Currently, Remus was trying to force himself to eat his breakfast, and avoid James and Sirius' concerned stares. That was one bad thing about Carlee starting to hang around. It was another pair of eyes he had to fool.

When he woke up that morning, he felt very stiff, his body already growing weak to the on coming transformation. But Remus found that it was not nearly as bad as it had been last month, and he thought that this was because he was not dreading it nearly as much this time. He didn't have time to dread it with all the stuff that Sirius and James were getting him to do. Invisible sting trip wires in the hallways, getting Peeves to jump out and scare people as they walked around corners, trying to locate the kitchen, these were just a few of there favorites. He also knew that he would be safe from everybody else in the shack, and that if everything went well, he would have another quick recovery.

"You alright Remus?" Sirius asked quietly, even leaning towards him so that no one else could hear. He surprised Remus sometimes with how considerate he could be.

"I'll be fine." He said smiling gratefully.

"So, who finished that essay that Professor Perkins set for us?" Carlee sang, swinging her leg over the bench and pulling her unfinished essay out of her bag.

"Carlee!" Remus chided. "We have Defense class next hour!"

"I didn't say that I hadn't started it. I just, you know, insinuated that it wasn't all the way completely, finished." She smirked at him and then proceeded to scribble furiously at the parchment, not looking up to acknowledge anyone else.

"So, who is excited for the first Quidditch game?" James said walking in and doing a spot on impression of Carlee, swinging his leg of the bench next to her and then nudging her side. She rolled her eyes, but other then that, she ignored him. "But no, for real though. Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw. We are most definitely going."

"Yes we are." Sirius agreed. "Who do we want to win?"

"The lesser team." James said pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"What?" Remus asked quite confused.

"You know, the team that should have lost, we want that team to win. Because then it give Gryffindor an advantage."

"And Slytherin." Sirius pointed out.

"Yeah, but we are just going to have to pummel them any way." James shrugged. Then he looked over at Carlee. "Oh crap! I didn't finish mine either!" He pulled out his nearly finished essay and started to jot down the ending.  
>"When are they going to learn?" Sirius sighed putting an arm around Remus.<p>

"I don't think they ever will." Remus sighed back, Frank and Peter laughed at this. Frank had just sat down and joined them.

"Yeah, I guess I can't really laugh at you both. I finished mine just before coming down here. That would be why I am late." He then proceeded to gather food up on his plate.

"What are all the teachers freaking out about?" Orian asked as he and Stephen sat down next to Frank.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked turning to look at the staff table. And there was most defiantly something going on. McGonagall and Sprout were huddled over a copy of the Daily prophet and Dumbledore was in deep conversation with Flitwick. "Hey James?" Sirius asked getting his busy friends attention.

"Yeah?"

"Can I see your copy of the daily prophet when it comes in?"

"What- sure, whatever." James said dropping his head back down to continue writing.

The owls came and they all dropped the letters from home and the prophet at their respected child's hands. James got the prophet and another letter from home. Sirius saw Carlee look at the letter for a fraction of a second and thought he detected envy on her usually cherubic face. But it was gone about as fast as it appeared and he could no longer tell if he had actually seen it, or just imagined it.

"Here." James said throwing the prophet to Sirius and paying the owl. "Well, that's that. I am finished." He said rolling up his parchment and placing it back into his bag.

Sirius grabbed the parchment and Frank, Peter, Remus, Orian, and Stephen all got up and gathered around him.

"Whoa, did I miss something?" James laughed, watching the peculiar behavior of his friends.

"There's been an attack." Sirius said completely shocked.

"A what?" James asked trying to pull the paper away from Sirius, but Frank slapped his hand away. "It's my paper!" He cried indignantly, this only got him shushed.

"An attack. There were three muggle borns killed out side Gringotts yesterday evening around 6 o'clock. 7 more were hospitalized. But it's weird. It says that only the muggle borns were attacked. How would one even know if they were muggle borns just by looking at them? This had to have been a planned attack." Sirius speculated aloud.

"Who attacked them?" James asked now trying to read the paper upside down.

"Masked men." Frank said pointing to the picture.

"None of them were caught either." Sirius said, scanning the rest of the article.

By Lunch the whole school was talking about the attack on the muggle borns. The Slytherins were finding that whole thing hilarious and took to harassing most of the Hufflepuff rather quickly. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the school seemed against there idea of fun and put an end to it. Now they would just make snide remarks to no one in particular when ever a muggle born was near.

No one seemed to be shaken by this news more then Carl though. People were scared and writing home, checking in on family members and friends, but Carl was absolutely beside himself with fear. No one could talk him down either.

"Carl, Hogwarts is one of the safest places you could possibly be." Frank said with an arm around him. They were sitting in front of the fire place in the common room. It was Friday and classes had just finished. Sirius had taken Remus down to the hospital wing with James in the middle of Divination, for which they were grateful. So besides Remus, everybody else was sitting around Carl trying to comfort him. Actually almost all the Gryffindors, year one through seven were all huddled together in the common room. Some in smaller groups then others, all trying to either comfort there muggle born friends, or work out what the heck had happened the other day.

"Yeah Carl, nobody can hurt you while you are here." A first year girl named Jamie Parks said soothingly.

"But the thing is, everyone who was killed or injured was muggle born." Lily said. "They were sought out, targeted."

"Yeah!" Carl cried out. "Why?"

"Some wizards just don't like muggle borns." Author said from his spot on the couch next to another fifth year girl named Molly. They were holding hands.

"But why? I don't understand." Lily said throwing her hands in the air.

"How do you explain any prejudice?" A deep voice came from Kingsley Shacklebolt, a third year who was sitting on the floor near the hearth of the fire place. "People are ignorant."

"Alright forget about the real world for a moment." Carl said. "What about the Slytherins. They think this is funny. Just some joke."

"Not all of them." Lily said quietly, most people chose to ignore that statement.

"If one of the scum bags are giving you a hard time, them just tell us." James said pointing to himself and Sirius.

"Yeah Carl, we got your back." Frank added, others were quick to agree with him.

"You too Lily." James said looking at the red head. "If they give you any crap, just tell us."

"Thanks." She muttered. She couldn't really say anything rude to him when he was trying to help her feel safe. And the truth was that she was quite shaken up.

"Besides, the ministry is going to catch them soon. They can't just get away with something like this." Mary said confidently. And that seemed to be a point that no one could argue, seeing as how the ministry had never before failed in there lifetime.

By Saturday, things had died down a bit, people weren't as frightened, the Slytherins wanted to harass the two houses who were playing Quidditch in only a few hours, and Remus was still in the hospital.

"But Madam Poomfry!" James begged dropping to his knees at her feet. "He _needs_ to go to the game!"

"Oh does he? Because I was under the impression that sick children need rest, not cold air and excitement. Pardon my mistake." She said stepping around him as she made her way to Remus to give him a pain relief potion. The transformation hadn't gone as smoothly as last time. He luckily had no broken bones to explain this time, and his bruises were all safely hidden under the blankets and his robes. Unfortunately he was in a lot of pain, more then he was willing to admit to Madam Poomfry, who seemed to be able to tell regardless of what he told her.

"But it's the first Quidditch game of our Hogwarts careers!" He said standing up and walking around to face her again.

"I don't care if it is the world cup for Pete's sake. He is not going James and that is final!" She said sternly. She handed Remus the potion, which he drank quickly, took back the empty goblet and then stormed off to her office. "Five minutes, then I want you both out of here." She called without turning around.

James collapsed on the bed next to Remus'. "This is totally not fair!" He said running his hand through his hair.

"Well, don't let it get you down too much." Remus said hoarsely. "You'll just have to come back after the game and tell me all about it." James looked up and smiled at his friend.

"Yeah, I guess." James stood up and walked over to his bedside. "You know, you really don't seem all that bummed about missing the game."

"James, I think that he just wants to sleep." Sirius said rolling his eyes. "He's ill, remember?"

"I know, but just for the record, you would have come if you weren't sick, right?"

"Yes James, I would never insult you like that." Remus smiled. James nodded his head.

"Of course you wouldn't." He laughed. "Well, Sirius and I should head down to the pitch if we want to get good seats. Plus, we have to pick up his girlfriend." He winked at Remus and then dodged a punch that Sirius threw at him.

"Let it go already!" Sirius huffed and then started walking towards the door. "Feel better Remus."

"Thanks Sirius." Remus called. James was still next to him, he grabbed his sleeve. "What did you guys tell Carlee?"

"Nothing. Just told her you weren't feeling well." James looked confused for a moment. "That's the truth, isn't it?"

"No James, I am laying here being feed potions because I enjoy there taste." Remus said rolling his eyes though his stomach had tightened in anticipation of what other questions he could bring up. James laughed and patted his shoulder, Remus let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, feel better then." He waved and then he too walked out of the hospital.

While receiving the play by play of the game, Remus found it very hard to stay awake. He found Sirius and James' endless supply of energy quite exhausting.

"It was amazing!" James sighed. "I mean, it was such a close game, and Hufflepuff would have lost by over 100 points if they didn't catch the snitch like they did."

"That was cool too." Sirius added jumping up off the empty bed he had been sitting on. "The seekers were racing for the snitch and the Hufflepuff seeker practically jumped off his broom to grab the snitch. I thought he was going to miss."

"But he didn't" James almost shouted. "He just launched himself, and then he had it. It was sooo cool. You really should have been there."

"I couldn't have gone. You heard what madam Poomfry said."

"Yeah, so. She went into her office right afterwards. We could have got you down to the pitch before she realized you were gone." Sirius whispered, looking over his shoulder at the closed door. "I mean, fresh air is good for you when you're sick." Remus knew that he would never disrespect madam Poomfry like that, but he held his tongue and smiled at his friends.

"Well, it's too late now." He said trying to sound disappointed. "I'll just have to come to the next one."

"Yeah, there is no way you are missing the next game. It's Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw. You can't miss your own houses game. It's like a rule or something." James said gesticulating madly.

"And rules are ever so important to you." Remus said smirking at the over enthusiastic boy.

"Some rules were made to be broken; this was not one of them. I'll be sure to differentiate from now on." James said rolling his eyes.

"That would be ever so helpful." Remus said, playing along.

"Alright, I think we should head off to dinner now. That game was fairly long and I am starving." Sirius said. "See you later Remus. Get some rest."

"Okay, thanks for stopping in guys."

"Hey, no problem." James smiled following Sirius towards the door. "See you around mate."

"Yep, see you." He called and waved to his friends. Then he rolled over on his side and drifted off to sleep.

After dinner, Sirius, Peter, James, Carlee, and Frank all went outside to hang out by the black lake. Carlee and Frank were both working on an essay that McGonagall had gave them, James and Sirius were playing exploding snap, and Peter was watching everyone with a look of earnest interest and amazement on his face. It was as though he couldn't believe that he was surrounded by so many people, and just being near them was enough to please him.

"You two do realize that it is Saturday correct?" Sirius asked eyeing the furiously moving quills seemingly glued to Carlee and Frank's hands.

"Yes Sirius, I know. But if I don't do it now, I might never work up the courage to do it again." Carlee said still looking down at her parchment.

"Some Gryffindor you are." James laughed. "Not even brave enough to do your own homework." Sirius snickered as well.

"It was a mistake." Carlee muttered. Sirius looked up at her, but she was still writing away at her parchment.

"What?" James asked. Sirius wasn't the only one who had heard her cryptic remark. All four boys were looking at her with confused looks on their faces. She looked up and realized what she had said.

"What what?" She asked looking at James, trying to throw the attention off of herself.

"What did you mean it was a mistake?" James asked, the thought of letting the comment slide never even crossed his mind. He was far too proud of his house to let anyone bash it in any way. "You don't want to be in Gryffindor?"

"I never said that!" She exclaimed almost wildly.

"It sure sounded like that's what you said." Frank said still looking at Carlee from his place on her left. She quickly opened her mouth to argue with them.

"If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean?" Sirius asked cutting her off, also not willing to let go of this opportunity to extract something from Carlee.

"I just meant that, I mean, you know what?" She sputtered, grasping at straws. "I don't have to explain myself."

"Yeah, you do." James said sternly. Sirius wanted to laugh at how clueless his friend was. James just thought that Carlee had something against being in Gryffindor, Sirius heard the tone of voice Carlee used, and he could tell it was something more. She had come to him after she heard the howler, her and her sister were protective of each other.

"Come on." Frank said, just as clueless as James.

"Fine!" She shouted getting up to her feet. "I am a coward, and I am dead sure that the hat made a mistake when it put me in Gryffindor." With that, she picked up her bag shoved her paper and quill in it, and stormed off up towards the castle. They all just watched her go.

"What was that?" James asked after they saw her small figure disappear through the castle doors.

"I am pretty sure that we upset her." Frank said stating the obvious. Sirius punched him in the arm.

"No, really?" He asked. "I should have told you two to shove it." Sirius said pushing James over.

"Hey!" James said sitting back up. "If I had known that I was going to upset her so much, I would have shut up all on my own thanks."

"Why did she get so mad?" Peter asked, speaking up for the first time.

"If we knew that, we wouldn't be so shocked." James said harshly. "This isn't my fault. You wanted her to answer too." He pointed out. Sirius looked at him and then hung his head.

"I know." He sighed.

"Should we go and apologize?" Frank asked.

"No." Sirius said shaking his head. "Let's let her cool off, we'll tell her that we're sorry tomorrow."

"You better." A voice shouted at them, one that was quite similar to the one that had just left.

"Hey Ella." James said waving cheerfully. Ella scoffed at him.

"You have no tact, do you?" She asked glaring him down. "None of you do." She looked around at them, her eyes resting on Sirius. He found himself looking into the same orbs of blue he had the first time he met Carlee. Only this time, instead of curiosity, they were filled with anger, and pain. He quickly looked away. "You should have just let it go."

"I didn't know she was going to get upset like that?" James said defensively.

"Oh? Well then, what did you think?" She said putting her hands on her hips.

"I thought she was just bashing Gryffindor!"

"What?" She said much softer then before, "What did she say?" James proceeded to tell Ella the contents of the conversation before looking at her smugly and smirking.

"See, you shouldn't yell at somebody before you know what happened."

"Actually, you shouldn't push it when Carlee tells you she doesn't want to talk." Ella smirked back at him before going after her sister, who was by now long gone.

"To bad Remus wasn't here. He probably could have prevented that." James sighed.

"Yeah." Sirius agreed, not really listening to his friends. "Hey, let's head back up to the dorm."

"If that's what you want." James shrugged. "Let's go." They all picked up their things and walked back to the common room.

**AN: Hope you liked it, it was sort of written in a stream of consciousness. Sorry about that. Reviews are always appreciated. **

**~Craz**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Well, are you ready! I don't really know why I asked you that, but here is the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy! :D**

** Chapter Thirteen: And it all goes Boom!**

As it turned out, Carlee was much more upset with the three boys then she originally appeared. None of the boys saw her again all weekend, and Ella was giving them the cold shoulder if she happened to cross paths with them in the hall way.

But they did there best not to talk about her unusual absences.

Sirius was taking it the hardest, but he was also refusing to mention her. Instead he spent all his time Sunday dreaming up a new prank with James. They were huddled under the tree by the lake, which they had already claimed as their spot, whispering back and forth when Remus walked out of the castle looking for him.

He had been released after much begging on his part, and many promises to take it easy for the rest of the day. He savored the feeling of the sunlight kissing his sullen cheeks after being immobilized in the hospital wing for the last three days. He had no lasting bruises after being with Madam Pomfry, and he was feeling only slightly stiff, whish may have had something to do with not being able to move around much as well as the transformation.

As James and Sirius had been pretending that the incident with Carlee had never occurred, they had failed to mention it to Remus when they went to visit him in the hospital. So when Remus came over and found her spot under the tree vacant, he was quiet confused. Carlee was almost always with them now, unless her sister or one of her other friends would drag her away for an hour or so.

"Hey there Remus! Glad you're feeling better." James said, smiling brightly at the look of confusion on Remus' face. James followed his eyes to the empty spot and then quickly looked at Sirius.

"Thanks James. Where is Carlee?" He asked.

"Don't know." Sirius said trying not to meet his eyes.

"Is she with Ella?" He asked what he assumed to be a perfectly logical question.

"I don't know." He said a little more forcefully. Remus was even more confused now, and James looked up at him and sighed.

"We sort of upset her yesterday, and she hasn't talked to us since. Nor have we seen her at all. She wasn't even at breakfast this morning."

"Well, she can sulk if she wants." Sirius said pulling on Remus' sleeve so that he tumbled down to the ground next to James and himself. The fall hurt more then it would have if he hadn't just gone through a transformation, but he hid the pain well, only clenching his jaw a little bit. "We have a plan."

"A plan? You mean like another prank?" Remus asked, trying to sound excited, but he really wasn't entirely sure that his body was up to a prank at the moment.

"Yes." James said. "And this one is going to be good."

"You realize that you say that about all of them, right?" Sirius said smirking.

"Well, all of our pranks are quite amazing so, I haven't yet been wrong." James said rolling his eyes. "But that is beside the point. We are going to play a prank on Filch." James let that hang in the air for a moment so that Remus could digest what he had said. Remus could tell that both of his friends were very excited about this prank.

"And just how are we going to go about doing that." Remus asked, slightly intrigued. Sirius and James leaned in closer, and Remus followed suit. James took a deep breath and began his depiction of the prank.

"Well…"

"Sev please." Lilly said grabbing his arm to make him slow down. They were walking down an empty corridor. There was a painting of three women on a porch, all in very thick wool dresses, and the appeared to be playing bridge. They were teetering back and forth and pointing at the spectacle in front of them, but other then that, Lilly's voice was the only thing that could be heard. "I am not ditching you."

"Well, then what do you call it? We had plans Lilly, if you back out now, you're ditching." He said slowing down at her touch, but still not looking at her. He knew that he would lose all resolve if he looked at her.

"I just want to change the plans a little. I still want to hang out with you today. It's like the only time we have together all week." Lilly said pleadingly.

"It would have been different if you weren't put in Gryffindor." He said sounding pained.

"I didn't ask the hat to put me in Gryffindor. And you didn't have to be in Slytherin you know!" Lilly said defensively. She didn't like it when he talked like this, it wasn't her fault completely that they weren't in the same house. She got sorted first after all. He could have picked her house.

"It doesn't work like that Lilly." Severus sighed. "You don't get to just _pick_ which house you want to be in."

"Then why are you blaming me for where I got put?" She asked indignantly.

"I don't know, I just don't like us not having enough time with each other." He said apologetically. Lilly nodded her head, letting him know that she understood and then got back to the original topic.

"Any way. You know that Mary, Ella, Carlee, Savannah, and Coral are my friends too, and I think that it would be really fun if you came with us to the library." Lilly said, getting her proposal out in whole for the first time.

"What would I want to hang around with a bunch of girls for Lils?" He asked, again not looking her in the eyes.

"You hang out with me, don't you?"

"That's different." He smiled sheepishly. "Besides, you promised." He said, looking her in the eyes for the first time through the whole conversation. She bowed her head.

"I know, but…" She looked as though she wanted to tell him something but changed her mind at the last moment. "You're right. I did promise. I'm sorry I tried to change the plans. Let's go." She said and started off down the hall.

"What an odd pair." One of the ladies from the picture observed. "Slytherin and Gryffindor. A bit star-crossed, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I am afraid so." Another one said. Lilly was a bit farther up the hall and couldn't hear them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Severus asked screwing up his face in anger.

"Nothing dear." The first lady sighed. "It will all play out in do time I suppose."

"You don't know what you're talking about." He spit out vituperatively and then ran down the hall after Lilly.

Remus was currently alone. This didn't bother him, he was actually quite excited. This was all part of the plan. He was very pleased when he found out that James and Sirius had come up with a part in the prank for him, and that they were going to wait until he was out of the hospital. A part of him knew that if he hadn't come back today, they would have went and asked Frank or somebody else to take his place, but he was happy regardless.

He was supposed to go to the third floor and what for the signal before proceeding with his part of the plan. He was prepared, and only a little nervous. His part was the least likely to get punished.

For the prank, he was prepared, what he wasn't prepared for was what he found when he walked into the third floor corridor. Lily was huddled over someone who Remus couldn't see, and Severus was standing near by with an almost empathetic look on his face. Remus quickly back tracked several spaces before anyone could see him and threw himself up against the wall. What ever he had just walked in on was private. He could tell by the way that Severus was letting his guard down and not gripping his wand. Now that he was listening, he could swear that he heard faint sobs coming from their general direction. Remus wasn't sure if it was Lily or the third person.

"You can talk if you want." Remus heard Lily say quietly. "We won't tell anyone if you do. Right Sev?" He didn't answer but Remus assumed that he nodded in agreement. He suddenly felt like he was intruding. He had only happened upon them on accident and had back up as not to intrude. He didn't want to hear what they were saying. He wasn't an eavesdropper.

"I don't know what to say." The third voice said in a hoarse, nasally voice. Remus winced when he recognized it as a voice used by people who have been crying a lot. He new this voice a little to well. His mother, and sometimes he himself had the same tone to their voices after a particularly brutal transformation.

"This doesn't have anything to do with what _they_ said yesterday, does it?" Lilly asked with a sharp edge to her soothing voice. Remus wasn't following the conversation, but there was definitely something else familiar about the voice, other then the tone. He was trying to place it, but before he could really think, there was a loud protest.

"No!" The voice cried out a little stronger then the first time it spoke up. Remus still couldn't tell who they were talking too, but he figured that it was a girl. "It's not them, truly it's not. It's…" They broke off and more heart breaking sobs filled the corridor.

"Shh, shh. It's okay." Lily said softly.

"Look." Remus heard the rustle of paper as Lilly received whatever it was that had been handed to her. A few moments later Lilly gasped.

"How could-" But Remus never heard what she was going to say. At that exact moment, they was a loud crash coming from a few floors up, the sound reverberated off the walls all the way down to the third floor and then there was a stony silence as everybody tried to figure out what had happened. Before any students got to speculate however, there was another loud crash from a few more floors up. And exactly 8 seconds after that crash, another one was heard, but this time from the ground floor.

Remus looked around frantically. He never got to his spot, he had stopped when he saw Lilly and Severus and the stranger. Now he was going to have to improvise. The other two were expecting his crash in less then ten seconds.

He looked up and down the hall before spotting two suits of armor standing next to each other a few meters down from him. He quickly dashed over to them, counting to ten in his head as he went. When he reached the suits of armor, he was at eight. He counted up to ten and then heaved the one suit of armor into the other.

The effect was just what he was going for. The noise they made as the bounced off each other and then hit the floor was just as loud and echoy as the previous noises had been.

As soon as the suits hit the ground, he took off running for the fourth floor. He was to go there and meet James in the boy's lavatory. He didn't look back once as he was running, he focused solely on placing one foot in front of the other and taking care not to trip. It only crossed his mind for a moment that he was indeed breaking his promise to Madam Pomfry about taking it easy today. Running as fast as he could only two days after the transformation was probably a bad idea, but he was having so much fun, that he didn't really care.

Once he reached the bathroom, he threw open the door, got inside and then collapsed against the other side of the door. James was leaning against the sinks, smiling at him.

"Nice." He said reaching out a hand and walking closer to Remus to help him off the floor. "I personally think we should have waited a little longer between the crashes, you know, made him start running to one before setting off the next. But it was still something to be proud of." He pulled Remus over to the sink and turned it on. "Get a drink; you can't be breathing heavy if they look in here." He instructed. Remus quickly complied. "Any way, I was thinking on my way down here that we should probably keep a list or something off all the stuff we do. I mean, if anyone found it, it could be pretty incriminating, but I still think that it would be a good idea. Then we won't forget cool stuff like this when we are old and grey, looking back on the glory days." Remus smiled at the prospect of still being friends with James when they were old men, but he knew that it was just a dream, a childish fancy. James wasn't going to stick around once he found out what Remus was.

"I hope Sirius made it out alright."

"Even if he doesn't, he's not going to sell us out."

"That's not what I meant." Remus smirked. James shrugged. "Not that they wouldn't be able to figure out who helped him if they do catch him."

"That's true. Though they wouldn't suspect you. You are such a good boy." James said pinching Remus' cheek. He pushed him away and then listened. There was no noise coming from outside the door.

"I think it's safe now." Remus said walking towards the door.

"If you say so." James said skeptically. Remus whirled around and looked at James with wide eyes.

"Do you hear something?"  
>"No Remus calm down. I was just ribbing you."<p>

"Well don't do that!" Remus said pushing James out the door. James laughed.

"You are so lucky you just got out of the hospital, other wise I would so get you back." James threatened.

"Lucky me." Remus smiled. This was why he liked being friends with James especially. He never had to try very hard. Even though he had never had friends before he had come to Hogwarts, he was fitting in relatively easy. Given, they didn't know the awful truth about him, but still. He felt comfortable around them most of the time.

They were walking around the corner, heading towards the stairs, and when they reached the stairs Lily and Severus were coming up from the third floor.

"I've never seen her like this before." Lily was saying to Severus. They were so engrossed in their own conversation that they didn't notice James and Remus. "She gets quiet sometimes, but never more then that. Especially not in front of me, maybe her sister, but never me."

"And whom may you be talking about?" James asked bravely. Lily jumped at the sound of his voice, but upon seeing who it was, her gaze hardened.

"I am just guessing, but you had something to do with that noise, didn't you?" She asked. "I swear, if you don't stop getting point taken from Gryffindor, you are going to get beat up."

"Is that a threat Evens?" James asked smirking.

"I am not going to beat you up!" She said looking a bit taken back.

"Oh, well then thanks for looking out for me." He said cheekily, she blushed furiously and looked as though she was going to argue with him, but he cut her off. "Though I do have to ask you, how do you suppose that it was me if I am here and the sounds came from all over the castle?"

"I don't know, nor do I car." She said looking stumped.

"But don't distract me with lectures." James said shaking his head. "Who were you talking about?"

"It's really none of your business." Severus spit at him.

"I really don't think that I was talking to you grease-ball." James said with a disgusted look on his face.

"James." Remus whispered, pulling his sleeve away from the two friends. James just pulled away from him.

"Don't Sev." Lily said grabbing Severus' arm and pulling his hand away from his wand. "He's not worth it."

"Don't speak to me like that." He said taking a step closer to James. James took a step up as well.

"Let's go James, Sirius is going to be looking for us." Remus pleaded. He knew that if things got out of control, he wasn't going to be able to do anything.

"Yeah James, Sirius will be looking for you." Severus mocked.

"I'll have something to tell him when I see him." James smirked.

"If you can still talk." Severus muttered and then he grabbed his wand. James already had snuck his own wand out without the others noticing.

"Sev, please! Let's just go." Lily pleaded. Severus just ignored her.

"What do you two think that you're doing?" The same voice from the corridor said quietly. Remus looked over and was shocked to see who the voice belonged to.

The girl who he had heard sobbing just a few moments ago, looked as though she was about to rip the heads off of both Severus and James, and both of them looked at her with the same expression of fear on their faces. "I was under the impression that both of you were a bit more intelligent then this." She still had tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were all red and puffy, but she still looked almost dignified with her head held high and her arms crosses.  
>It was Carlee.<p>

**AN: Here is the next chapter for you. I wanted to make it a little longer but, I kind of really wanted to end it like this. It is a bit of a cliff hanger. So raise you hand if you knew from the start that it was Carlee that they were all talking to her! Hope you liked it. Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Craz**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Okay, here is chapter 14. I had to write it today which upsets me. I like to spend a few days on each chapter. Revising and editing it, but I like how it turned out for the most part. If you've noticed, that is why the last few chapters are a bit shorter, I haven't gotten to revise as much as I normally do. But any way, enjoy! :D**

** Chapter Fourteen: Apologizes, laughter, and Lily's theory**

**Previously**

"_Let's go James, Sirius is going to be looking for us." Remus pleaded. He knew that if things got out of control, he wasn't going to be able to do anything._

"_Yeah James, Sirius will be looking for you." Severus mocked. _

"_I'll have something to tell him when I see him." James smirked. _

"_If you can still talk." Severus muttered and then he grabbed his wand. James already had snuck his own wand out without the others noticing. _

"_Sev, please! Let's just go." Lily pleaded. Severus just ignored her. _

"_What do you two think that you're doing?" The same voice from the corridor said quietly. Remus looked over and was shocked to see who the voice belonged to. She still had tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were all red and puffy, but she still looked almost dignified with her head held high and her arms crosses.  
>It was Carlee. <em>

**Presently**

"Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?" She demanded. A speck on her cheek was still wet, glistening with a forgotten tear.

"Oh Carlee!" James exclaimed, almost instantly forgetting about Severus. "What happened to you? Who did-" His eyes widened in fear as he stopped mid sentence. "We didn't do this to you, did we?" This was obviously the wrong thing to say to a girl who was so adamantly pretending that there was nothing wrong. Her face crumpled a bit, but she held her resolve.

"I don't know what you mean." She said refusing to look away from James face. Remus had to give her some credit on that. She was very brave.

"Carlee, I am so sorry." James said, his face turning red and his gaze dropping to the floor. "We didn't know- we never would have said anything if we would have known-"

"Don't flatter yourself Potter." Severus sneered, cutting off James' have delivered apologies.

"_You _did this to her?" James said, quickly shedding the blame and taking up the next plausible explanation. "You slime-balled, twisted, son-of-a-"

"That's enough!" Carlee yelled over James' increasing volume. "He didn't do anything, and neither did you idiots. It was something else."

"Well then why have you been avoiding us?" James said voice soft again. Remus didn't know how he was handling his emotions so well. He was switching between them so quickly, it was making Remus' head spin.

"I don't run out to meet you one day and now I am avoiding you?" Carlee said, trying to look bemused, but her swollen, red eyes were working against her.

"You skipped meals." James tried.

"So did Ella. Is she avoiding you too?" James cocked his head at this. He wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but now that she mentioned it; he didn't remember seeing Ella other then once in the hall. "Look, I have had a bad day. I am sorry if you thought I was angry with you. I wasn't. Well, I was yesterday, but not today."

"Well, okay then. Sirius is more bent over it then I am. You shall have to talk to him."

"In good time." She sighed. "I want you to apologize to Severus." The last thing she said affected James more then anything else that she had said in the last few minutes. He stared at her with his mouth slightly opened, and looking as thought she had just slapped him a crossed the face rather then tell him to apologize.

Remus glanced up at Severus and saw that he was grinning in the most unpleasant manor Remus had ever seen. He knew that this was going to all but kill James.

After judging the seriousness of Carlee's words, James turned very slowly towards Severus, who was not standing up straighter with his arms crossed. A look of victory displayed on his face. Lily too was smirking a bit. But James didn't notice that.

They all stood in silence for a few minutes as James tried to find the words and then wrench them out of his mouth. He felt as though he literally was able to form the words. He couldn't stand here and apologize to this piece of Slytherin filth. He glanced back over at Carlee, wishing that she would changer her mind, or start laughing. Like this was just one big joke that he had fell victim. But she just stood there, in the same position she had been standing in the whole time. He couldn't disobey her, not when she looked like that. James silently hoped that Sirius didn't get the chance to see her like this, or James would never hear the end of it until the root of the problem was found and destroyed.

He turned back towards Severus and cleared his throat. "I am truly sorry for my hurtful words and how rude I must have been. I don't know what came over me. I was acting like a right git." James said, trying very hard not to lose his temper at the look of joy that was flittering a crossed Severus' face. Carlee nodded her approval. She defiantly hadn't been expecting something more then, 'I'm sorry.' But James' mother had engrained it into him that if he was apologizing, he was to do it right. James was never aloud to simply state that he was sorry; he had to say what he was sorry for.

"Okay. Let's go." Remus said stepping up to his friends and pulling him towards Carlee. She put her hand up. Remus looked at her strangely, but she wasn't looking at them. She was looking at Severus.

Lily was the first to notice what it was that Carlee meant by this, and hung her head. They were so close to just walking away. She was going to start another shouting match if she didn't just let it go. "Carlee-"

"No Lily." She said. "You need to apologize too." She said looking at Severus still. He looked taken aback, as thought this was the last thing he thought she was going to ask of him. He had just found her alone and crying in the hallway and stayed with her while she blubbered to Lily. He gave her _his_ time with Lily, and now she was going to try and make him apologize to James!

"Excuse me?" He asked softly.

"You need to apologize." Carlee repeated herself slowly.

"I don't think so." He said trying hard to remain calm.

"You were in the wrong as well, I could hear the whole thing." Carlee rebutted. James didn't dare look as Severus had when he was facing him. He knew the humiliation he was going through, and he didn't want to look at him while he shed his dignity.

"I'm sorry." Severus muttered. Then he spun on the spot and raced up the stairs. Lily sighed as she looked at Carlee, and then followed after him.

Remus, James, and Carlee all stood in the hall outside of the bathrooms for a few moments in silence. "I'll be right back." Carlee said quietly. The front that she had put up for the show down had now worn off and she looked exceedingly vulnerable.

She walked over to the girl's bathroom and slipped inside the door. When she walked out, James and Remus were still silent, and your face was free of tear stains and her eyes a little less blotchy.

"Let's go find Sirius, shall we?"

"Yeah, sure." James said quietly. Remus walked behind the two of them as they walked side by side. Silently apologizing for the other humiliation.

That's when James understood why Carlee had made James apologize; she had to make him understand how she had felt yesterday. He understood now, and was not going to be so quick to humiliate her again.

When they finally made there way back to the dormitory, they found Sirius to be pacing the floor back and forth. His head snapped up as they entered, and his face broke in to an enormous grin. It seemed to double in size when his eyes fell on Carlee. Then he quickly schooled his features so they looked much more sheepish.

"Oh come off it. I can't stay mad at the lot of you." She said quickly. Looking slightly uncomfortable at the prospect of another game of 'whose fault is it.' He let out a laugh of relief and then walked over to them.

"I was afraid that you all got caught or something. I was about to go and turn myself in." He said, closing the door and herding them over to the far wall where their beds were. "I am so glad the Peeves went along with it. He is going to be very useful in the up coming years."

"I was wondering who made the fourth crash." Carlee nodded while sitting down on James trunk, and helping herself to an opened box of home made fudge. "Thought it might have been Frank or Peter though."

"Nah, sort of a spur of the moment prank. We were looking for Peter when we ran into Peeves. Thought we'd be nice and ask if he wanted to help." James said grabbing a piece of his fudge from the box and then he flung himself onto his bed. Propped up on his elbows and laying on his stomach, he then shoved the whole fist sized piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Oh, well it's good to make alliances with school pests I suppose."

"And pests that actually work very hard to make such discrepancies on a normal bases." Sirius added sitting down next to Carlee. Remus climbed onto James bed and Carlee put the box in the middle so that everyone could reach it.

"Glad to see that you're feeling better Remus." Carlee said looking Remus up and down.

"Yeah, don't know what came over me." Remus said quickly, not having a better excuse at the ready.

"Sick twice already, that is rather unlucky." She continued.

"Yeah." James said. "I didn't even realize that. You have been sick twice."

"It's nothing." Remus said, he could feel his stomach clenching as though a cold hand had reached inside of him and was squeezing it. "Just a fever."

"I'm not saying I think it's contagious or anything. Just unlucky." Carlee said.

"Oh, yeah. I suppose." Remus said, not allowing himself to come out from the defense.

"So, just to be certain, we're good right?" Sirius said turning to Carlee. After a month of being friends with James, he had now mastered the puppy dog face and James thought that even had she wanted to say no, she couldn't have been able to.

"Yes Sirius, we're good." She said with a smile. "And that was much better then your last attempt." She said, now referring to the puppy dog face.

"Why thank you."

"Yes, even a dog couldn't have done a better job." Carlee said laughing.

"I sometimes wonder if he _is _a dog." James said in mock seriousness, with earned him a punch in the arm. "Hey now!" James said putting his hands up. "I was just speculating. I mean, we have all seen you eat." This time he dodged the blow. Carlee stated laughing as Sirius lost his balance and tumbled forward onto James, knocking the tin of treats to the floor and then James and himself both toppled off the edge of the bed as well. The both wound up on the floor and Remus and Carlee had tears streaming down there faces and hand clutching there sides. Remus was laughing so hard that he too fell over, but he didn't fall off the bed, he just hit his head on the bed post, which caused Carlee to laugh even harder.

James and Sirius were trying to untangle themselves and ended up laughing as well. Then Sirius reached an arm upward and pulled an unsuspecting Carlee off the trunk and she fell off and land next to them.

It took them close to ten minutes to calm them selves down enough to get up and sit back down, but then they started laughing again at the look on James' face when he realized that the sweets were all over the floor and crushed from their fall.

Later that evening, Lily was pacing back and forth in the girls dorm, much as Sirius had been earlier. Coral, Savannah, and Mary had all gone to the library to finish an essay that was due tomorrow and Ella and Lily were the only two in the dorm. Lily didn't know where all the other girls were. There were quite a few of them, and she didn't really know all of them that well.

"What is the problem Lily?" Ella said softly. Though the twins were identical, there were some pretty significant differences about them. Carlee was intimidating, and confident. She walked around like she owned half the world and wasn't the least bit frightened of anything. Where as Ella was much more subdued. She was still friendly and fairly outgoing, but she seemed to be lacking the confidence that her sister wore like an over sized coat. She was softer and more open, she didn't feel the need to hide everything that would make her look slightly vulnerable, and she was patient.

And it was that last quality that aloud Ella to sit quietly at the foot of her bed and watch Lily pace in front.

Lily looked up at Ella and sighed. "I can't talk to Carlee about this." She said softly. "She would take it the wrong way."

"So I am the next best thing?" Ella said smiling slightly. She was used to this. Her sister was louder then her, and people usually preferred her company to Ella's. But fortunately it didn't last. Carlee was a particular person and once people go to know her, they either lover her or they hated her. She left very little room for middle ground.

"Well, yes." Lily said walking over and sitting next to Ella on the bed. "Carlee shoed me a letter that she got from home." Lily said, unable to meet Ella's eyes. "But she wouldn't talk about it. Sev and I found her on the third floor earlier today and she was clutching a letter and crying. She was terrified that I saw her, but she showed me the letter any way. I almost got her to talk, I might have, but then the crashes went off and she snapped out of it." Ella didn't look at all as shocked as Lily had been expecting.

"It's probably a good thing she didn't tell you anything." Ella sighed. "She wouldn't have talked to you again. She's like that." She placed her hand on Lily's knee and smiled up at her. "Thank you for trying to help her, but there isn't much you can do. Just leave it to me, alright."

"But she's my friend, I want to help." Lily said, putting her hand over Ella's.

"She doesn't take pity well. Nor does she like to dwell on things publicly. You can't do much without upsetting her. She's my sister, I know these things."

"Alright." Lily sighed. She was defiantly banking on a different outcome, but she could smell a lost cause when there was one.

"Now if you don't mind my asking, what did you read in the letter? Do you know who it was from?"

"I think it was from your uncle Tim, but I'm not sure if that is the right name." Ella nodded and so Lily went on. "It was telling her that your mother was ashamed of you and she had locked herself in her room about something and then he went on berating Carlee. It was awful. You didn't get one as well, did you?"

"No, I'm easily forgotten about at home." Ella said quietly, picking at the comforter absent mindedly. "I don't know why she bothers to read them. They only upset her."

"You mean she's gotten others?" Lily asked horrified.

"Of course. That's why she was so upset when Sirius go his howler, she knew that she was about to get something similar. Uncle Tim definitely doesn't favor Carlee."

"I could tell." Lily sighed.

"I think we should be done talking about this." Ella said as the door opened and Jamie walked in with Yvette. They smiled at the girls on the end of the bed before walking over to their side of the room, whispering amongst themselves. "Carlee would never forgive us if anyone were to over hear this conversation."

"Of course." Lily breathed standing up and walking over to her own bed to change into her night things. The rest of the girls would be back soon, and there was sure to be a line at the bathroom, it wouldn't hurt to be first. Ella seemed to share her mentality for they both gathered there wash things and walked into the bathroom. There were three showers, four toilets, and four sinks with a large wall mirror in front of them. Lily and Ella did not speak any more on the subject that night, but Lily couldn't stop thinking about their conversation.

Carlee and Ella were both hiding something. She could tell. Neither of them had stories to share about home when the other girls stayed up late at night and spoke of home. No stories about how they missed their mother tucking them in at night, or the father's breakfast on Sunday mornings as Lily told. No stories on little siblings getting underfoot and stealing their things as Savanna often told. No wishing that they could see there families, or go home on weekends like most of the girls. No, both of them stayed quiet when it came time for these sorts of talks. They would sometimes share looks with each other, but other then that they seemed to enjoy the talks as well. They would laugh along with the others, and sympathize when need be. But reveal nothing about their own lives.

Lily couldn't understand this. She was on the outs with her own sister Petunia, but she still spoke of her and how she missed her often. Carlee and Ella would have to really despise there home if they didn't want to even mention it.

Lily didn't want to think about it to much, but their home life had to be something nightmarish for family members to send letters like that to eleven year old girls on behalf of their mother.

She knew that something was terribly wrong, knew that something must be going on. She looked at Ella as she meticulously placed her bathing things on a shelf in the shower before stepping out and turning on the water.

She just didn't know what it could be.

**AN: There you have it. Chapter fourteen is now completed and ready for reviewing. I hope you like it. Next chapter is going to be about Remus! I think at least. No promises. I haven't yet started writing the next chapter. So we shall see, but I am fairly certain.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Here is the next chapter. I wasn't going to finish it today because I had a really bad head-ache but, I took some pills and it went away. I only had to finish the last half anyway. Hope you enjoy. :D **

**After thought, I sort of like alliteration for the titles if you haven't noticed.**

** Chapter Fifteen: Fun, Fruit, and Filch**

"Now class, just remember that you all know this stuff. We have been studying, and you've all answered my questions a loud. You can do this, I believe in you." Professor Perkins was saying as she handed out her test over the last three chapters. Sirius and James were very put out with the professor who could have earned the title as there favorite. They didn't like the idea of a test. They were already going to be tested on all of this at the end of term any way, so they didn't see the need for extra tests in between.

"I wish she would just let us start already." James said tapping his finger and his quill on the side of the table. Sirius was resting his head against his hand and looked as though he was in danger of falling asleep. Remus nudged him and he sat up straighter and yawned.

"I wish that it was still the weekend, but whatever, your wish is good too." Sirius said lazily. Professor Perkins stopped in front of there table and handed them their tests.

"I know that they aren't great fun," She said looking at James and Sirius as she addressed the rest of the class. "But I think that come June, you will find it very useful to look back over the test to study the things you missed and have questions that might end up on the exam."

"Or, you could tell us what's going to be on the exam, and we don't have to take the test." Sirius said grinning impishly.

"Sorry Mr. Black. You are going to have to take the test." Perkins said smiling.

30 minuets later, Sirius and James were the first two to turn in the 50 question test which was made up of mostly short answers. Remus looked up at the clock and saw that they still had another 20 minutes before class ended and then he looked down at his paper. He was on question 32. How could they be finished already?

Mrs. Perkins looked suspicious too, and flipped through both of there tests before nodding at them to let them know that they could go and sit down. After they were seated again. Sirius took out a sheet of paper and started to scratch away at it with his quill. Remus tried to ignore it and focus on his test, but his eyes were drawn to the paper. Sirius was writing a note to James, but that was all the Remus could pull from it from the potion he was currently in. He couldn't lean over Sirius' shoulder without it looking as though he was cheating, or without Sirius noticing that he was trying to read over his shoulder.

He looked back down at his test and had to re-read the next question a few times before it actually stuck. It wasn't until Perkins announced that they only had ten minutes left that Remus was able to actually focus and finish up the test.

"Why did it take you so long to finish the test?" Sirius asked Remus as they were leaving the classroom. "You didn't think it was hard, did you?"

"No, I guess I just like to be thorough when I answer questions." Remus said glancing at the loose leaf paper that James was currently shoving into his bag.

"And I thought that only girls passed notes." Carlee said walking up to them, with Peter trailing shortly behind her.

"We had a half hour to kill, did you expect us to just sit there and behave ourselves?" James said. "Besides, it was only about Quidditch. That's not girlie."

"I guess that would be too much to ask for, wouldn't it. Sirius and James, behaving." Carlee said nudging Remus in the side.

"I suppose so." Remus sighed, acting as though he were disappointed. Sirius laughed and turned to look at Peter.

"What about you? Why did you take so long to finish the test?" Remus noticed that the kind tone that Sirius' voice held when he addressed himself, Carlee, and James was not present when he was talking to Peter. He sounded as though talking to him were a chore, something that he would rather not do. Luckily, Peter didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't mind. He looked beside himself as he was addressed.

"Oh, well I couldn't think of all the answers right away. What did you guys put for number 18, because I couldn't remember it and left it blank? I kept trying to come back to it, but I couldn't think of the answer." He rambled on, and Sirius lost interest.

"Cool, anyway, I think I found out where the kitchen is located." Sirius said, cutting Peter off mid sentence. Peter didn't seem to mind though, and was looking at Sirius with wide eyes of anticipation. Then he let out a squeal of excitement.

"Really?" Carlee and James said in unison. Though Carlee cocked one eyebrow up in skepticism, and James looked like a small boy on Christmas day. Sirius nodded. Not saying anything further.

"We'll go tonight." He said.

Carlee shrugged and said, "Then I guess we'll see." Her voice was coated in disbelief but Sirius only laughed.

"I guess you will."

That night, the four boys snuck down and met Carlee in the common room before all of them snuck out of the port hole and down to the 2nd floor. They wandered the deserted corridors for an hour before Carlee said anything. She was trying her hardest to be patient with Sirius, because she too wanted to find the kitchen, but it was late, and they weren't getting anywhere.

"Sirius, we're going in circles. Are you sure that we are even on the right floor?"

"Look, I know what I am looking for, alright." Sirius said sharply. James looked at Remus and put his hands over his heart.

"It's there first fight." He whispered quietly and then mouthed, 'aw.' Remus snickered into his hand, and then quickly disguised it as a cough when Sirius whipped his head around and shot daggers at James.

"I'm tiered guys. Can't we go back?" Peter whined leaning up against a wall to rest.

"It is nearly one o'clock in the morning." Remus agreed. He was tiered, the transformation had been only a few days ago and he hadn't really been taking it very easy, even though he had promised Madame Pomfry.

"Why don't you just tell us what to look for?" James compromised. He was also getting tiered, but he didn't want everyone to gang up against Sirius.

"A large fruit picture." He said, still a bit angry.

"Sirius!" Carlee said throwing her head back. "That isn't on this floor! Come on." She then led them to a different floor and down a hallway that was off the beaten path. When the rounded the corner, there was a portrait of a bowel of fruit. Carlee made a bravado show and then turned expectantly towards Sirius. "Well, now what?"

"This is the door." Sirius said, smiling again. "Now we just have to figure out how to open it." There was a collective groan and James, Peter, and Carlee all slunk down to the floor. "Come on guys, we found it." Sirius said not loosing his enthusiasm.

"You figure out how to open it. I am going to take a nap." Carlee said, leaning up against the wall and making a show of closing her eyes and leaning against James' shoulder.

"Fine, I will." Sirius said turning towards the picture, having to tear his eyes away from James and Carlee, "Jealsous?" James mouthed before he turned all the way. Sirius felt his blood boil for a moment, but then took a deep breath and tried to focus on the portrait in front of him..

"I'll help." Remus said stepping up and studying the picture as well.

"Ninety-nine bottles of butter beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of butter beer. Take one down pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of butter beer on the wall." James broke into song and stopped when Sirius threw him a look. "What? I am bored and I thought Carlee would appreciate it if I sang her to sleep."

"I do." Carlee said, still pretending to be asleep.

"See." James said and then he continued singing.

By the time there were only thirty-two butter beers left on the wall, Sirius and Remus were all out of ideas to open the door, Carlee was actually asleep, and it was past one o'clock.

"Sirius, I think we should head back now." James said, abruptly stopping his song. "We are quite lucky that we haven't been found by now. We've been sitting here for a few hours. Plus my butt hurts."

"Well, you could try and help us." Sirius grumbled. Remus looked around at the small group and sighed.

"Sirius, we can brain storm and then come back tomorrow night. Everyone is tiered. I am tiered." He said softly, trying not to hurt Sirius' feelings. Sirius looked around.

"Fine. Somebody wake Peter." He muttered, walking over to help James up off the wall.

"Should I leave Carlee here?" James said. "That would make a pretty good prank."

"Do it, I dare you." Her sleeping form suddenly snapped awake and James and Sirius laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Some of us have seen you angry." James said still chuckling. Sirius looked down at his feet at the mention of this, but Remus knew that James wasn't referring to whatever Sirius was thinking of. He was thinking about that Sunday. "Not something that I am likely to forget anytime soon."

Carlee smacked the side of his head. "I am a very nice person Potter. You hear me?" She said in false menace.

"Of course of great one, anything you say." James said dropping to his knees. Carlee and Sirius laughed a bit too loud when James tried to kiss Carlee's feet, and Remus held up his hand to motion for silence.

"Shh." He hissed. "Do you hear that?" The others all quieted immediately. There was a sound too. It was the sound of foot steps, and they were getting louder by the second. Sirius and James looked at each other and then they grabbed Carlee and Remus, who had the good sense to grab hold of Peter, and then they were off down the hall. Unfortunately they were headed in the opposite direction then they came from, but they couldn't go towards the noise.

"I know you're here." The voice called out after them. "I heard you. Laughing and such. The headmaster will kick you out for this. Students aren't aloud to be out after hours." It was Filch, out walking about in the mist of the night in hopes of catching a student.

"This guy really needs to get a hobby." Sirius hissed pulling Carlee further down the hill and turning suddenly right.

"Let's split up." James said, not waiting for an answer, he veered left with Remus and Peter.

Sirius, still holding onto Carlee's arm, ran until he reached a set of stairs. One led up, and one down. He looked at Carlee and she nodded towards the set that led up. Then they were off again, running up and up more sets of stares. When thy reached the set of stairs that would lead them to the seventh floor, they heard more foot falls behind them. Sirius was shocked, he was sure that they had out run Filch, or at least lost him in the process of running.

"Hurry!" Carlee shirked as they slid in front of the fat lady. "Please wake up!" She hissed at the portrait.

"What! Oi! What are you children doing out of bed?" She asked groggily and thoroughly annoyed at being woken at such an awful time.

"I'm sorry, really, but Filch is after us. You don't think you could cover for us, do you?" Sirius said, using his newly found talent at the puppy dog face.

"Well I-" But she was cut off by the sound of more foot steps. They seemed far to loud to be Filch's. "Oh alright. But only because that man is just awful to children. Plus he would probably go and wake the headmaster and that-."

"Yes, hurry please." Sirius said.

"Not without the password." She said raising her eye brows.

"Alihotsy!" Carlee quipped. The fat lady nodded and opened the door. The foot steps behind them slid to a halt and Carlee and Sirius found themselves being pushed through the port whole.

"Hurry up, he's right behind us!" James voice said in a whisper. Once they were all in, the portrait swung closed behind them. Then they heard the muffled voice of Filch from behind the tapestry.

"Open up!" He yelled at the fat lady. She faked a yawn.

"Password." She said as though this was normal.

"I don't know the bloody password, now open up. There are students out of bed!"

"You are going to go into a dormitory to look for student out of bed?" The lady asked in a patronizing tone. They all heard Filch mutter something unintelligible.

"No, I just chased three students all the way up here, and they just went in here." He yelled at her.

"I highly doubt that. You are the one who woke me up Filch. No student may enter without my knowledge. And I most definitely did not let three students in just know." Remus heard the extra emphasis on the word three, but he doubted that Filch caught it.

"I need to go in there!" Filch shouted.

"I need to ask you to be quiet before you wake my students, or the whole bloody castle!" She shot back. They heard Filch grumble some more, and then he stomped off, making as much noise as he possibly could.

"Thanks." Carlee called out to the portrait.

"You're welcome dear. Now off to bed with the lot of you."

"Yes ma'am." They all whispered.

They all walked up to there dorms, Carlee walking to the other side of the room to get to the girls dorm, and the four boys went up to their room. Once they were all there, they silently slipped on their night things in the dark and slid into their beds. 

Remus could not remember ever being so exhausted in all his life. He had defiantly pushed his limits tonight, running wasn't something he was particularly good at, and only three days after the full moon, that was just stupid and he knew it. If he didn't let his body heal properly, then it would be that much worse for the next full moon. He didn't get to berate himself to much though, because his adrenaline rush of being chased throughout the school in the middle of the night was wearing off quickly and in its place was pure exhaustion. He was asleep mere seconds after his head hit the pillow.

**AN: Well, I hope you liked it. Wanted to show some mischief. Please, don't forget to review, they are all wonderfully inspiring. And they make me write more, so please review. :D**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Okie-Dokie. I suppose that I shall write some word vomit up here before I get on with the story. I am really pleased with all the hits that this story is getting, I got almost 300 in one day after I posted chapter 14, but no reviews recently. Not that I should complain, but I would like some feed back. **

** Chapter Sixteen: Short-Bread Cookies and Skipping **

The next day was far less excitable then the previous night, but they all found some measure of pleasure when they saw Filch grumbling to himself as he walked amongst the students. He seemed to be paying extra close attention to the Gryffindor students today, and James was the first to voice what they were all thinking, as they walked together a crossed the grounds to the green house for Herbology.

"I bet he's looking for us." He said with a grin.

"Seeing as how he doesn't know who he is looking for, he's not really looking for _us_ per say." Remus countered. "Besides, he only ever saw the three of us. From the back and in the dark." Then he bit his lip. "I hope he doesn't know who we are."

"I didn't say that he was going to find out who we were, just said that he was looking for us." James said nudging Remus in the side. "Clam down. You know Sirius and I won't let you get into trouble." Remus nodded.

"I know. But I don't want any of us to get caught."

"What's on the agenda for today?" Sirius asked.

"Classes." Carlee said wryly.

"That's not what I meant." Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"Well that is what-"

"Carlee!" A voice called from behind them. They all turned to see Ella running towards her sister. She was as white as a ghost and wearing a look of panic on her normally calm face. "Carlee!" She called again, coming to a stop in front of the group of confused eleven year olds. Sirius and Remus noticed the slightly crumpled piece of paper that Ella was clutching in her hand.

"What is it Ella?" Carlee asked before her eyes twitched over the paper.

"Oh Carlee, it's awful. I mean of course it is. It's Chris-"

"Not here Ella." Carlee said, loosing her soft tone that only used for her sister and sounding a bit frightening. Ella glanced around at Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter as though it just dawned on her that they were all standing there.

"I'm sorry." Ella muttered looking at the ground. She started to fidget, and bit her lip, looking very much like a water balloon that was about to burst.

"Let's go." Carlee said grabbing her sister by the arm and leading her back up towards the castle.

"What was that all about?" Peter asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped them.

"I haven't a clue." James answered turning back towards the green house and walking with Peter to get to class. Remus was impressed. He had really taken Carlee's lesson to heart.

Remus looked over at Sirius who was still looking at the castle though neither Ella nor Carlee were visible anymore. This was the second time that Remus had seen that expression on Sirius' face. The first time being right after he got the howler from his mother. It was a look of intense hurt and betrayal. Remus looked away quickly.

"She should talk to us." Sirius said quietly.

"Maybe she's afraid of what we'll say." Remus answered, not knowing what else he should say. Sirius turned to look at him.

"Yeah, maybe." He said after a moment. "I don't really feel like going to class. You want to go back to the dorm with me?"

"I really don't think that is such a good idea Sirius. I mean, we could get caught, and then we'd get detention." Remus said looking over his shoulder to see Professor Sprout moving some large moving plants out of green out 1 and putting them into green house 4.

"Yeah, still. You worry about getting caught too much." Sirius said. "Tell James I'll see him at lunch." And then Sirius started to walk away. Remus was torn. He really didn't want to leave Sirius alone to sulk when he looked the way he did, but he didn't want to get caught skipping class. He prized being allowed at Hogwarts above everything, but Sirius was his friend. He couldn't leave his friend alone right now.

"Nah, I'll come with you." Remus said stepping into pace with Sirius. Sirius looked over at Remus gratefully.

"Thanks."

When Sirius and Remus reached their dorm room, they threw their bags on their beds and then set at the foot of Sirius' bed eating some sweets that James' mother had sent him that morning. Remus felt a little guilty for eating James' treat without his permission, but he didn't think that he would mind much.

Sirius jumped right into what was bothering him as soon as they were both seated.

"What do you think was in that letter? And who do you think Chris is?" Sirius asked, broaching the subject without meeting Remus' eye. Remus didn't like thinking over other people's secrets when his own secret was so terrible, but he could feel the concern emanating out of Sirius when he spoke of the letter, so he went along with it.

"I don't know. Ella looked pretty shaken up thought, didn't she?"

"Yeah. She never looks like that." Sirius said putting another short bread cookie in his mouth. "It just feels off, you know." He looked at Remus and seemed to be searching him for a something. Whatever it was, he must have found it because he leaned in closer and looked Remus dead in the eye. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone else this. Even, no especially James." Remus looked shocked, but nodded. "I think that Carlee only started talking to me because of that howler my mom sent me."

Remus almost laughed at the ludicrousness, but he didn't. He could tell by the look on Sirius' face that he was actually thinking this. "Well, that can't be true. She likes hanging out with us." He said, thinking of all the things that they had done in that last month. Carlee wouldn't have stuck around so long just because of a howler. She was their friend. She was Remus' friend.

"I never said that we weren't really her friends. I'm saying that the day I got that stupid letter was the day that she started talking to me." He said looking down at his hands now. Remus was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He had never seen Sirius look so vulnerable. "I think that she was happy with her original group of friends, I mean she is still with them a lot. If I never got that letter, she might never have come over and sat next to me." Remus tried to chew this over quickly.

"So you think that she was feeling sorry for you?" Remus asked, not liking the sound of those words.

"Not exactly. I think she was empathizing with me." He said, looking up at Remus, who scrunched his face up in confusion, and then looked at him with wide eyes. His mind shot back to Sunday when he accidentally stumbled upon Carlee crying to Lily in the hallway. Carlee had given Lily something to look at and then Lily had been shocked. It was on a piece of paper, he had heard it crinkling, and it could have been a letter from home. That was a definite possibility. And then he remembered the awful words that Sirius' mother had shouted for the whole school to hear. Could what was in Carlee's letter have been like Sirius' howler?

"You think that her family-" But Remus didn't know what else to say there. He didn't want to bring up the horrible things that Sirius' mother had said, that wouldn't help the situation.

"Talks to her like mine does, yeah I do." He said still looking Remus in the eye. "I just don't know why she won't tell me. I mean, if anyone could understand, it would be me." Remus also remembered Carlee saying to Lily that she wouldn't know what to say if she were going to talk about what ever 'it' was.

"And her sister. They probably talk to each other. Besides, I think that Carlee is a very private person." Remus said softly.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Sirius snorted. "She never reads her mail at breakfast, she never mentions any family except Ella, and she won't talk about anything more personal then her favorite color." He rolled his eyes. This all seemed to genuinely bother him.

"Neither do you." Remus said quietly. Sirius squinted his eyes and looked up at him. Remus desperately wished that he hadn't said this.

"I already had my mother shout at me in front of the whole school, I didn't think that I needed to share anything else." He said angrily, but his eyes quickly softened. "But that's not what you meant is it." Remus tried to follow along, but he didn't know where Sirius was going with this. "You guys; you, Carlee, and James, you're my best friends. I should be able to share stuff with you. Best friends don't have secrets." Remus actually found himself chuckling slightly at this. Sirius eyed him.

"I'm pretty sure that our group of friends has more secrets then this whole castle put together." Remus smirked. Sirius nodded in agreement, but didn't smile.

"But still…" He took a deep breath. "My family doesn't really like me much." He said softly, now he wasn't meeting Remus' eye. "They think of me as a screw up. My younger brother Regulus was like their idea of a do over. He's everybody's favorite. He never gets punished." That he said rather bitterly. "He is absolutely fawned over, and _me? _I get-" He stopped talking abruptly and looked up at Remus, who was staring at Sirius in disbelief. He couldn't understand why Sirius was using himself as a confident. "I mean, sure he's almost bearable, but still. There isn't much wrong with me. Why do they hate me?"

"I'm sure they don't hate me." Remus said soothingly. What else was he going to say?

"I've about 13 letters in my trunk that say otherwise." Sirius said patting the trunk. Remus was really in a state of shock. What could be wrong with Sirius' family? Remus was a werewolf and his parents hadn't deserted him, had never made him feel like he was unwanted, or a burden. They would never say anything hurtful or cruel about the affliction, or aimed at him in general. They were kind and understanding. They treated him like a normal boy, even with his little problem. And Sirius was a normal health boy. What did his parents have against him?

"But, why?" He asked before he could stop himself. As Sirius answered him, Remus could hear his voice change to a rehearsed sounding, elitist type of voice.

"My family is full of a bunch of aristocratic snobs that are all for the purification of the wizard race. They believe that everyone should be pure blood, or shouldn't be allowed a wand." His voice changed back to normal. "I don't swallow that garbage and I may, at times, voice my opinions in rather, let's say inappropriate ways." He said with a smirk that was almost normal-Sirius like.

"That doesn't sound like a good reason to me." Remus said.

"Of course not. Your mums a muggle, isn't she?" Sirius said quizzically. "You aren't going to understand just how offended they get at muggle borns and half bloods being placed in the same caliber as pure bloods. They would totally freak out if they knew that I was friends with you, and shared a dorm room with someone like Carl." Sirius bit savagely into another cookie. "I'm not saying this to offend you." He said quickly, looking over at Remus. "I don't feel the same way."

"I know." Remus said. He had never been embarrassed by his blood, or the fact that his mum was a muggle, and he wasn't going to start now.

"It's just, they are really awful people." Sirius sighed. "It's just how they think."

They sat in silence for a while, and Sirius ate nearly half of the cookies by himself before they said anything else.

"So what's your secret?" Sirius asked, causing Remus to about choke on his tongue.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a secret." Remus said a bit too quickly.

"Come on, really? I just spilled to you; you have to tell me something in return." Sirius said, looking really disappointed. Remus racked his brain for the least revealing secret. He had to give him something truthful and good, but not something werewolf related.

"Umm… you promise not to laugh?" He asked, Sirius nodded. "I was afraid that I would make any friends when I came here." Sirius hunched his shoulders.

"Weren't we all? Come on Remus, dig a little."

"You and James are the first friends that I have ever had." He said in a voice that was only just audible. Sirius could hear the honesty in his voice and didn't say anything about it being a weak secret.

"Why?" He asked scooting closer to the sandy haired boy.

"Kids don't normally like me." Remus whispered. He subconsciously ran his finger tips over his scar on his right cheek. It was more faded now then it had been the first day of school, but it was still noticeable. He was surprised that not many people had asked about it. But if they did, he just told them the lie about falling off his broom. "I don't really know why. I always tried to make friends. I was kind and generous. They just didn't want anything to do with me."

"Well, you have friends now. We all do." He said resolutely. He had noticed the way Remus touched the scar, but he didn't feel the need to bring it up at the moment. Sirius had plenty of scars himself. "And we will make sure that Carlee knows that."

After Sirius made that vow, he decided that they shouldn't skip the rest of the day's classes for two reasons. One: Carlee might decide to show up to class and talk to him. And two: He didn't want to make James angry with him.

"Where were the two of you?" James hissed when they both walked into History of Magic and plopped down at their desks.

"We were taking a mental health break." Sirius said smiling cheekily at James.

"And I wasn't invited because?"

"Oh come off it James. You were already in the green house when I decided to skip and I took Remus with me. We wouldn't have been able to do it if we went in and got you." James shrugged, but he also stopped sulking.

Remus noticed that Carlee was sitting in the front of the room with Ella. Jamie, who normally occupied the seat the Carlee was sitting in, was searching around for another place to sit. Carlee was staring off into space with a hard look on her face. She could have been carved out of stone and she wouldn't have looked any different. Ella on the other hand looked as though she had just been crying. She was hiccupping every few minutes, and Remus could hear her snuffing her nose. He nudged Sirius and nodded in her direction.

"Ella was holding a letter." Sirius said seeming to think that this proved his point. "Should we talk to her after class?" Before Remus could answer, James almost shouted at Sirius.

"NO! I mean, no. You saw what happened the last time we tried to get her to talk to us. I don't want that to happen again. We should just leave her be. She'll talk if she wants to." He said, shocking Sirius. Remus knew that he was thinking about how she made him apologize to Severus the other day.

"Alright. Calm yourself. We'll leave her alone." Sirius said, looking quite dejected. "But I _want_ to talk to her."

"Well, don't tell her that." James said. Remus pulled out a blank piece of parchment and prepared to take notes. He wasn't sure what was going to happen at lunch, but he wasn't really looking forward to it.

It turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. Carlee sat with Ella, off towards the end of the table and everybody left them alone. Except for a pair of brunette Ravenclaws that looked like they were in their fourth or fifth year. They stopped by them for a moment or two and the four girls had a hurried whispered conversation. When they went to sit at their own table, Carlee seemed to look a little better. Ella still looked very ghost like, and worried, but she looked a bit better too. Remus kept that too himself. If Sirius found out, he would go interrogate the girls to try and find out who they were and what was wrong with Carlee.

"Look at him." James sneered while spreading an excess amount of pumpkin butter on his toast.

"Who?" Peter inquired.

"Snape." James spit out.

"You mean Snivellus?" Sirius asked turning around to see Severus and Lily leaning up against a wall. She was talking animatedly, and he seemed to be absorbing everything she was saying. They were not the only ones watching the odd pair of friends. Many people at the Slytherin table were looking at the two of them with disgusted looks on there face. Everyone else was just looking on with confusion.

"Yeah." James said smiling. "Snivellus, I like that."

"Thought you would." Sirius said turning back around to face James. "Do we have to go to Potions?"

"We already skipped Herbology, I think we should go to Potions." Remus said looking away from Ella and Carlee, who were still sitting alone and in silence. They seemed to take comfort in the others presence.

"Yeah, alright." Sirius sighed.

"How did you manage to get Remus to skip anyhow?" James asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the goodie-goodie?"

"I don't know how I did it. I'd say that we are a rather bad influence on him." Sirius said, joining James in ribbing on Remus.

"Har har. Very funny you two." Remus smirked. "Now I am not going to let you see my notes from Binn's class."

"That's not funny Remus." James said, his smile lost. Then Remus started laughing and the bespectacled boy knew he was joking and tried to kick him under the table, though he ended up kicking Sirius.

"Hey!"

"That was for Remus." James said apologetically.

"Well why are you trying to kick Remus?" Sirius said cheekily, kicking him back.

"Ouch!" Peter yelped, after a misfired kick hit his shin.

"Sorry." James and Sirius said at the same time.

"Sure you are." Remus said shaking his head.

**AN: Well, there you have it. That is chapter 16. I wanted to let you into Sirius' world a little bit more, and maybe break open some knew possibilities for Carlee and Ella's life. I hope you liked it, I had fun righting it. Reviews are very much appreciated. :D**

**~Craz**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Here you go. I hope you enjoy. This one is kind of saddish/deep in the beginning. Well, not really deep, but whatever. Enjoy. :D**

** Chapter Seventeen: Reg, Siri, and Car**

It was Wednesday evening and Sirius was sitting alone up in the owlry.

He didn't know how exactly he had gotten up here, because this wasn't his desired destination, but once he set out, he found his feet carrying him here.

His back was against the wall and he was watching the sun set over the Black lake. He had gotten a letter from his brother that morning, and it had confused him. He usually blew his brother off, and didn't think of him much, but he wasn't doing that today. He pulled the letter out of his cloak for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

_ Hey Siri,_

_ It's Reg; I just wanted to check in a see how things were going. Sorry that I haven't been able to write sooner, I was actually hoping that you might write me first. You know, so I wouldn't have to ask mom for the owl, but whatever, you're probably busy with school work and all that._

_ So tell me! Is it everything we thought it would be? Is it as amazing as the pictures? How is the Quidditch pitch, probably amazing huh? I can't wait until I get to go there with you next year. I don't care if we're in different houses, it will still be so cool. And who knows, you're my brother, I could get put in Gryffindor with you, right? That would be tons of fun. Don't you think? But please don't tell mom I said that; actually don't tell anyone I said that. _

_ Do you like being in Gryffindor? What's it like? Have you made tons of friends? I bet you have. I bet everybody likes you. Do you know why you weren't put in Slytherin? I mean, our whole family has been in Slytherin, I know that you don't like some of our family, but still._

_ Mom and Dad are good, mom will get over what ever it is that she is mad at you for, I am sure, she always does. Kreacher is sort of giving me the creeps. He keeps sneaking up into my room in the middle of the night to take my clothes I think, but sometimes, I feel like he is standing over me. I'm too afraid to check though._

_ Okay, I am sure that I gave you enough to write about, so I am expecting something at least this long, you got it? You've been there for nearly two months now and you haven't written to me. Do you know how boring it is being an only child? I've got absolutely nothing to do here without you._

_ I miss you tons,_

_ Love, Regulus Black_

This was one of the downers of having a kid brother that everybody liked more then him. He couldn't blatantly dislike Regulus, because Regulus didn't know that Sirius was jealous of him, and Regulus idolized him.

If Sirius changed his mind about his favorite Quidditch team, or fruit, then so did Regulus. He followed Sirius around the house, laughed at all his jokes, wanted to hang out all the time, and grew his hair out the same way as Sirius. He was just like anybody else's kid brother.

He had thought about not writing him back. But it was hard to be mean to Regulus when he was so far away from home. When he was with him in person, he didn't have any problem slamming the door in his face, or yelling at him to leave him alone. But he sort of felt bad for his brother. He was all alone in that house in London, with no one to follow around. Sirius couldn't even imagine what he was doing to fill all his free time.

He hadn't written to him on purpose. He didn't want to. But he had to answer the letter, right?

He reached into his bag and pulled out the parchment that he had started his letter on.

_Hey Reg,_

_Hogwarts is great, really great. I am sure that you'll love it. I've got friends of course. I don't care why I was put in Gryffindor; its tons more fun the Slytherin. Quidditch is fun. _

_Miss you too,_

_Sirius_

He looked down at his brother's letter again and sighed. The words asking for length jumped out at him. He couldn't send his letter; it wasn't even close to a half page. He picked up his quill and a fresh sheet of paper. He hated writing.

_Hey Reg,_

_I am not extremely pleased that you want me to write you a transfiguration length essay, but we'll see what happens. And by the way, I have only been here for a month and a half. Not even._

_I am sorry that I haven't written and have left you to fend for yourself at home. I didn't really think of that. I have no advice as to how you should occupy yourself, which is probably best seeing as how it would only cause you trouble. Though with Kreacher, I would lock your door at night, maybe set a trap too. That way you'll know. You don't want him breathing all over you while you're trying to sleep._

_Hogwarts is truly splendid. You should see the mountains of food that they serve here for every meal. I don't know who makes it all but I did find the kitchen entrance the other day. Now I just have to find out how to open it and then I can have sweets whenever I want._

_You'll really like the Quidditch games, I mean, there no world cup, but it's still fun. Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw is the next game. I am really hoping that we win, but that much should be obvious. _

_Now, you don't need to go blabbing this, but I am glad that I got put into Gryffindor. You know very well that I don't think the same way as our dear family and I didn't want to be in Slytherin. That's not to say that you can't want to be in Slytherin. I just wanted to be different, you know me. Besides, my best friends are in Gryffindor. James, Remus, and Carlee. And yes, Carlee is a girl, no I don't like her. She's only a friend. I think James and Remus have ridiculed me enough on that front anyway._

_That's as much as you're getting this time. I miss you, but my hand is starting to cramp._

_Your brother (who I guess will send his love), Sirius_

He re-read his letter three times before he sighed again and called down one of the school owls to send the letter.

"Make sure that Regulus Black gets this. My little brother. He sort of looks like me. Don't let my mom or dad have it. You got it?" He asked looking at the bird. It hooted to show that it understood. "Good. Number 12 Grimwood place, London." The bird took off into the dimming sky. The sun was almost completely swallowed up by the lake by now, and the owlry was growing darker.

He decided that he should head back to the dorm now. He turned around and quietly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. It was getting late, and the hallways were almost completely deserted. Only a few stragglers being ushered off by prefects were left. Sirius caught sight of Molly and Author walking away from the Gryffindor tower smiling and giggling and he scrunched his face in disgust.

When he finally go back, he made his way up to the dorm room and found his friends, minus one, sitting on James bed.

"There he is!" James said loudly, causing everyone who was in the room to look at Sirius. "We were all but getting the search party together."

"I am fairly sure that was awful grammar." Sirius said rolling his eyes. "Who made up this team anyway?"

"Mostly Slytherins. They probably weren't going to get very far. Probably wouldn't have looked for you at all now that I think about it." James said shrugging. "But I told Peter not to worry. That you'd eventually show up." Peter looked like he was going to protest, but he didn't and continued to watch the playful banter with an awed expression.

"Nice to know that I can count on you." Sirius said managing a smile. He was still a little subdued after all the thinking about home today.

"You alright?" Remus asked. Sirius knew that Remus saw him shove the letter from his brother into his cloak without reading it this morning. He nodded.

"Yeah, I am fine. Just a bit drained." He said, yawning as if to prove his point.

"Oh, well then I guess we shouldn't tell him." James said cheekily looking back at Peter and Remus. Remus rolled his eyes, but Peter looked almost frightened.

"No." He said. "She said that we were to be sure and tell him." Peter said leaning forward on his knees and then sitting back on his hands. Whoever it was that had told them to give Sirius a message, he looked absolutely terrified to disobey them.

"Well, he's tired; he doesn't want to hear it." James teased.

"Hear what you twit?" Sirius asked taking a step closer to his friends. He was about ready to sock James in the arm if he didn't just spit it out already. He was tired and wasn't in the mood for this beating around the bush.

"Carlee came in and told us that she wanted to talk to you. But that was about an hour ago." Remus said putting and end to the pseudo-fight. Sirius was already half way out the door when he heard James shout 'whipped' at him. He thought about turning around and denying it, but what good would that really do? He knew that Carlee was only a friend, so what did he care what James thought?

He was hoping that Carlee wanted to talk about what had made her and Ella so upset the other day, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. She had never talked to him about it before, why would she now?

He was also just excited to see her in general. He had been sulking all day today, and she had spent the last two days with Ella. He felt like he hadn't seen her in forever.

He scanned the common room and spotted who he was looking for immediately. The blond in question was currently sitting Indian style on an arm chair next to Lily and Savannah working on a potions assignment that was due tomorrow. Sirius made a mental note to do that before he went to bed and then walked over to the corner.

"Hey." He said and tapped Carlee on the shoulder. "You wanted to see me?"

"Wrong twin." Savannah sang from her chair. Sirius looked down and saw the girl he thought was Carlee looking up at him grinning.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her." Ella giggled. "She went to get something from the dorm. She'll be down in a moment."

"I'm sorry." Sirius said shaking his head. "I was sure that I had gotten it too. I never do that."

"Don't worry about it. It happens to everyone, you know. Seeing as how we are identical." She said brushing it off. "I mean, my own grandmother doesn't get it right half the time I wouldn't expect you too." Sirius laughed grateful that she wasn't offended. Then he noticed that Lily was staring at Ella as though she had just announced that she was the queen of England and worked in the circus on the side.

"What are you looking at Lils?" Sirius asked her. She shook her head and glared at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. And don't call me that." She said fiercely.

"Whoa, hold your horses. I was only asking. And denying that you know what I am talking about defiantly proves that you were indeed staring."

"Oh you infuriate me-"

"Sirius quit harassing my friends." Carlee's voice said as she walked up behind him holding her potions book. "Lily, calm yourself down a smidgen. Your red headed temper is showing." Lily rolled her eyes and bent down over her book again. Carlee laughed. "Hey." She said now smiling at Sirius.

"Hey yourself." He said. "I was told that my presence was requested." She looked him up and down and then shook her head.

"Nah, I was under they impression that you were a bit… upset today. You seem fine, you can go." She sat down in the chair next to Lily and picked up her assignment.

"Umm, I don't think so." He said carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his temper with Carlee.

"What do you mean? You aren't okay?" She asked arching a brow and setting her assignment and her book down and stood up. He started to walk away, taking deep breaths as he went. As predicted, Carlee followed him. "What's going on?"

But Sirius kept walking. He didn't want to talk to her where other people would be able to hear them. He was also angry and didn't want to shout at her. He knew he had a temper and was trying to keep it in check.

"Sirius!" Carlee called after him. She reached out and grabbed his arm, but he shook her off.

He stepped up and walked in the port hole, and then pushed open the portrait, Carlee still followed him, only now she had stopped questioning him.

He kept walking until they were in a deserted corridor. Then he spun around to face her. She looked bewildered.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" Carlee asked softly. "I don't think I said anything that would make you upset."

"Well you did." Sirius said grinding his teeth together. "Do you not trust me or something?" He said with his eyes closed and clenched fist as his sides.

"What are you talking about?" Carlee asked with wide eyes.

"Do you trust me, or not?" Sirius asked blatantly. Carlee looked at him for a moment.

"Of course I trust you." She said softly, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Then why don't you talk to me when you're all upset and stuff?" He said falling against a wall and looking up at the ceiling. "Why do you think that it's alright to talk to me about what's going on _and_ keep all your secrets to yourself? We're friends; we're not supposed to have secrets." He said the last part trying to get her to look at him.

"I've never asked you to share anything with me." Carlee said still looking at her feet. Sirius blinked and looked at her.

"You were going too. Just now in the common room." He argued.

"Yes." She admitted, her head dropping even lower.

"I left you alone when you were upset this week."

"I know, I didn't know if you wanted to be left alone. That's why I didn't say anything earlier." She looked up at him and sighed. "I'm sorry alright."

"No, it's not alright. James, Remus, and I are your friends Carlee. You can talk to us."

"So you tell James and Remus all about your home life?" She said raising an eye brow at him.

"Well, I've talked to Remus about it." Sirius said, glad that he had, if for nothing else just to prove to Carlee that he was following his own advice. She shrugged.

"I don't like to talk about it."

"I don't think that you're supposed to." He slid down the wall so he was sitting on the floor. Carlee sat down next to him, though he could tell that she would rather turn around and head back for the common room.

"Then why do it?"

"So you don't have to deal with it all on your own." He said. She looked at him for a moment, and sighed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"You really want me to talk, don't you?" She said in a defeated tone.

"Yes." He said without hesitation.

"You feel like I owe you because of all the things your mom shouted out?"

"You don't owe me per say." He shrugged.

"Fine. But I am not telling you my whole life story." She said turning her head so her cheek was on her knee and she was looking at Sirius.

"The letter that Ella got on Monday was from my brother Chris. He does go here but he's old enough." She paused and took a deep breath. "He was worried about my dad. He was supposed to be home last Friday but he never showed up. He's missing." She said looking at the ground. Sirius didn't know what to say, didn't know what she wanted to hear. But he had to say something or else she was never going to talk to him again.

"I'm sure he'll be okay Carlee." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She looked at their hands.

"Well, I hope so." She gave a sad smile. "What about you?"

"I got a letter from my brother too." He said pulling out the crumpled paper. "We don't get along very well at home. Well, I get annoyed with him. My mom likes him." Carlee nodded.

"I understand that."

"You got any little siblings?"

"Four." She said and Sirius gawked. Carlee laughed at him.

"Four? There are seven kids in your house?"

"More or less." She chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, right _now_ there are probably about seven kids in my house. But during the summer there are quite a few more." She shrugged.

"So how many siblings to you have then?"

"We were talking about you." She said looking at the paper.

"Oh, well. I don't know. I didn't know what to say. He likes me you see. He said that it would be fun if he got put in Gryffindor. And I have to admit that I would like him a lot more if he _did_ get put in Gryffindor."

"So you were in the owlry then?" She asked.

"Yep. I wrote him a letter and sent it. I wasn't going to, but…" They fell into silence for a few minutes.

"If you want him to be different, you have to show him how." She said. "While he still likes you."

"I know." Sirius sighed. "But it's a bit more complicated then that."

"It usually is."

**AN: I am really being stubborn about not letting off much information on Carlee and Ella. I love that I can do that. You also got some more insight into the life of one Sirius Black. Hoped you liked that. Sorry it was sort of a depressing chapter, but whatever. **

**Please Review!**

**~Craz**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: I hope you like Quidditch, and my portrayal of the game. I tried my best to make it entertaining and nonconfusing. Let me know what you think.**

** Chapter Eighteen: Quidditch Anyone? **

** (One week and three days later)**

James was the first one up on Saturday morning as usual. After less then two months, they already had a standing schedule and he wasn't too fond of it. He would have to shake things up a bit and soon. But not today. Today was the second Quidditch game of the year _and _Gryffindor was playing.

He walked over to Remus' bed and woke him first, as he was the easiest to wake and never tried to punch James when he shook his shoulders.

"Hey, Remus. It's time to get up. We've got to get down to the pitch if we want front row seats!" He whispered.

"M'up." Remus mumbled rolling over and opening his eyes groggily. James chuckled. Then he walked over to Peter's bed and poked his arm that was hanging out of the covers.

"Peter, Peter." James sang. "It's time to walk up." Peter grunted and James took that as confirmation that he was awake and then turned to face Sirius' bed. Remus was sitting up in his bed now and watching James advance towards Sirius' sleeping figure.

"Hey buddy." James said bravely grasping Sirius' arm and shaking it. "Hey, you up?" There was no response. "Sirius?" James said tentatively.

"Do I bloody look like I am awake Potter?" Sirius grumbled into his pillow. James sighed. He wasn't going to get attacked this morning.

"Well, you sound like it." James said grinning cheekily even though Sirius wasn't looking at him.

For the next fifteen minutes James was trying very hard to usher his friends out the door so they could go down to breakfast. He had to pull Sirius out of bed twice and threaten to leave without them before they hurried up and finished getting dressed.

"You take longer then a bunch of girls!" James said complaining as they walked down the stairs to the common room.

"You do know that we are just going to have to wait for Carlee now, right?" Sirius said letting out a big yawn.

"If she doesn't hurry up, I am going to leave without her." James muttered, watching the Gryffindor team walk out of the port hole and head down for breakfast. He had a look of longing in his eyes and his mouth slaked open.

"I can't wait till I am on the team." James whispered.

"I am sure that you'll make it next year." Carlee said slinging an arm around James and Sirius. "What took you guys so long, I was about to come up and get you."

"Told you that you were taking longer then a bunch of girls." James laughed.

"Hey, I am only one girl, not a bunch." Carlee said letting her arms fall to her sides.

"Still, you were faster then these three." James said gabbing his thumb at Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"Aw well. Quit your complaining Potter. Let's just go get some breakfast and then get down to the Quidditch pitch." Sirius said rolling his eyes. James shrugged.

After they had finally made it down to the Quidditch pitch, they pushed their way to the front so that they were right up against the rail. A few people protested, but since they were all so small, nobody really cared much.

It was a nice day for the game. James took care in explaining this to all of them as they settled into the stands. There was an over cast, but it wasn't raining and it wasn't windy either. And the temperature was cool, which was also good. The players wouldn't be blinded by the sun, knocked off course by the wind, or over heated. This match was based on pure skill.

They were a half hour early for the game and Sirius was complaining, though James was tuning him out. He was so happy right now. This was what made him complete. This sense of euphoria he got every time he was in the pitch, when he could smell the excitement, hear the crowed. That is when he felt his love for the game the strongest.

He and his dad usually fed off each others excitement, and made sure to go to as many games as they possibly could. His mom didn't like the noise, nor did she much care for the sport itself, but his dad understood. James absolutely loved Quidditch. He could sit around and talk to his dad for days on end about nothing else if his mom would let them. He just couldn't get enough. His need was insatiable.

Next year he would keep his nose clean until tryouts. He would practice all summer, beg his dad to get him the new broom and blow everyone away when he tried out for the position of chaser. He had to make the team next year. He had already wasted this year by not even being allowed to try out, he wasn't going to let next year slip away from him as well.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sirius yelling in his ear. "Are you even listening to me?" He asked knocking on James' head.

"I wasn't." James said pushing Sirius' hand away and rubbing his head. "What?"

"I could have slept for another hour!" Sirius said slowly.

"Oh will you give it up?" Carlee sighed.

"But I am tired." Sirius whined.

"Well, no one said that you had to come." She said. Sirius smiled.

"I want to be here though!"

"Well then shut up!" Someone behind them shouted at him. They all turned to see a seventh year looking completely put out.

"A bit rudely worded, but I have to agree." James said snickering at his friend's bright red face.

"Sod off." Sirius muttered.

"Language." James pushed. He was starting to think that he should have just left Sirius in the dorm and not woken him up. He was rarely ever in a good mood when he was woken up early on Saturdays and it rubbed off on the rest of them. Now all their moods, and the people's behind them, were being affected.

It was a good thing that the match started at that moment, because they were all getting sick of each other in a hurry. Both the Gryffindor team and the Ravenclaw team walked out onto the field in two little pods. The two captains walked up to each other and shook hands. The madam Hooch blew her whistle and they were off. All fourteen players shot up into the air.

"And they have really shaken things up since last year, both teams have." The announcer said over the loud speaker, their voice being broadcasted throughout the entire stadium. "On the Gryffindor team we have Emery Brown as captain this year playing the same position she did last year, Keeper. Nicolas Stevenson switched to Beater, and Seth Stein switched to Seeker, ha-ha, try saying that 5 times fast. Anyway, Rodger Cliff came back for another year as Chaser, as did Joyce Camry. The new blood in the team would be Cleo Downing, the third Chaser, and Edward House as the second Beater." As he was introducing the new team Gryffindor took control of the Quaffle, and was making their way down towards the Ravenclaw's goal posts. The announcers voice speed up. "Josiah Smith, my dear brother, is the captain for the Ravenclaw team. They brought back only two of their old players seeing as how most of their old team graduated last year…"

James stopped listening to the Ravenclaw introductions and watched with a slacked jaw as Joyce Camry caught the Quaffle and shot it right past the Ravenclaw Keeper, a tall, slight, girl who spun around after realizing she missed and screamed in frustration. The stands around James erupted into applause.

"And Camry is not going to keep us waiting folks. Gryffindor scores!" James chuckled to himself when he looked over at the announcer's booth and saw Rodger Smith, a 5th year Gryffindor doing all the commentating. So much for an unbiased announcer. "That makes the score 10-0, Gryffindor."

The Ravenclaw team did not take the early score lightly. The two Ravenclaw beaters sent two bulgders flying straight towards Cleo Downing, the new chaser. James saw the attack coming before Cleo did and started shouting at her to look. He new she couldn't hear him, but he kept on shouting, next to him, Sirius and Carlee were doing the same thing. "Such a Slytherin move." James hissed and then he roared in delight as Cleo whipped her broom around just in time to avoid being knocked off her broom by the bulgder. It was a fantastic move and the Gryffindor's cheering was deafening.

"Wasn't that an amazing dodge by Gryffindor's own? I'll say." Richard said answering his own question. "Now Rodger Cliff has got the ball, he tosses it to Camry, who passes it to Downing, back to Camry. Ravenclaw just can't keep up here; I can barely tell what's going on! Back to Downing and she approaches the goal post, she shoots… and SCORES! That's another score for Gryffindor. They lead Ravenclaw 20-0." A rambunctious crowd started cheering 'Go Go, Gryffindor! Go Go, Gryffindor!" And James and the others all joined in merrily.

Thirty minutes later the score was 80-30, Gryffindor leading. In the last half hour, the new Gryffindor beater, Edward House had proven himself a worthy choice by knocking a Ravenclaw Chaser off their broom. Luckily they only fell about 10 feet and weren't seriously injured. They were able to continue playing as well. Downing had also made a total of 3 of the 8 shots for her team. Cliff made 2, and Camry the other 3.

"Smith has the Quaffle, go bro!" Richard shouted. "He passes it to Hanz, Hanz back to Smith and Smith shoots and it's blocked by Brown. Can't say that I am disappointed, but it was a nice try Jo." The Gryffindor's cheered and laughed. The Ravenclaws all let out a collective moan.

Suddenly Seth Stein shot into the air, the Ravenclaw seeker Hannah Klipp was quick to follow him, but she was quite far behind because she had been circling around the pitch and was on the other side then Stein. With her lagging behind him, Stein made a dive towards the ground and went so low as to make the whole crowd gasp. At the last possible second, he pulled up his feet and used them to push his broom down to be parallel to the ground and then he dropped back on to his broom. James was sitting in the stands, the only one not cheering, shocked into silence. That was _the _most amazing thing that he had ever seen.

"HOLY SH-!"

"MR. SMITH, IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, I WILL NOT LET YOU COMMENTATE ANYMORE!" McGonagall shouted at him.

"Oh calm down Professor, I was going to say shoot." Smith chuckled. "Besides, that was amazing Stein. Cheers."

Stein, with Klipp following close behind, raced along only a few feet above the ground. He had his hand stretched out and his body was leaning forward, James found himself mimicking Stein's body posture and quickly sat up straight before Sirius or Carlee could notice. James could see the fierce determination on Klipp's face and he almost felt sorry for her when he saw Stein's hand fold over the small fluttering gold ball.

"And Gryffindor WINS! 230-30! We really kicked butt; you owe me 3 gallons brother dear! Whoop!" Richard was shouting into the microphone.

Carlee threw her arms around James and was shouting in his ear. James didn't mind though and was shouting as well. They had won!

The jubilation caused from the win still hadn't died down and they were well into the dead of night. The house was acting as though they had just won the world cup. Some of the older students had pulled out their stash of sweets and joke stuff from Hogsmade. James was fairly certain that some of them were drinking Firewisky, as they were all acting a bit odd and tripping over each other, though James had yet to see the bottle. Even though he knew that he wouldn't dare drink the stuff even if he did see it. His parents would be so angry if they found out.

Sirius, Carlee, Remus, Peter, Frank, Stephen, and James were the only first years still up and were working very diligently to make sure that they weren't spotted by any of the prefects. Kara Wise, the head girl, had told all of the other first years to go to bed over an hour ago. Peter was the only one who was showing any signs of being nervous about breaking the rules. Even Remus, who still had a clean record, was enjoying himself.

"Peter, would you quit shaking?" Sirius sighed. "You could go to bed if you wanted. The other guys are up there."

"No, it's alright. I want to be with you guys. I just think that we should be a bit more careful. That's all."

"Duck, it's Weasly." James said, and all seven of them slid under one of the desks that were covered with food and sweets. Sirius grabbed a pumpkin pasty before hiding and shoveled it into his mouth. "Well, thanks for asking, but I don't want any." James said smirking as Sirius used the sleeve of his robe to wipe the crumbs off his face.

"I don't remember offering." Sirius shrugged. "Is it safe yet?" Carlee peeked her head out from under the desk and swiveled it back and forth.

"Appears to be." She smiled. They all crawled out and went over to the other side of the room, very cautiously, and then sat against the wall behind a few arm chairs that Carlee and some other first year girls usually use as a study spot.

"Did anyone grab any food?" Sirius asked, looking around as everybody shook their heads. "You all suck. Who wants to go with me, Carlee? Okay." He said grabbing Carlee's arm and dragged her out of their hiding spot.

"Sure Sirius, I come with you." She said looking at James and laughing. James just shook his head. He had been replaced with a girl already. Once they were gone James turned to the other boys.

"You know, I didn't think I would have to worry about being replaced by a girl for at least three more years."

"She hasn't replaced you." Peter said quickly, wanting to help James, but doing so in to much haste.

"Well, she is funnier, better looking, wittier, smarter-"

"Thanks Remus." James said punching his arm. "It appears as though all of my friends are stupid." Peter looked down as his feet, having taken personal offence to James' remark. "What is taking them so long? The snack table is right there." James sighed, twisting his body around to peer through the chairs at the table a crossed the room.

"They can't get caught, they have to be careful." Frank shrugged. "I can't wait until we're older and _we_ get to kick the first years out of the parties."

"I know. Hopefully I'll be on the team next year too, that would be perfect." James sighed.

"Are you hoping to replace Camry?" Stephen asked leaning forward. "She's a seventh year, right?"

"Yeah. I mean she's good. But I am fairly certain that I can fill her shoes." James said puffing his chest out, not fully aware of what he was doing. "I am pretty good." He said as nonchalantly as he could. "Hey!" He said suddenly causing all four pairs of eyes to look at him. "We should get a group of us to go out and play our own game of Quidditch tomorrow!" He said eagerly.

"That would be so much fun. And we can teach Carl." Frank said, his face brightening at the thought. "I mean, you two did teach us how to play baseball after all." Frank said looking at Stephen.

"Umm…" Remus looked around at the three eager faces. "None of the first years are aloud a broom, and we can't use the school brooms either. They keep them locked in the broom shed." James face fell.

"Oh yeah. Well," James attempted to put a smile on his face, but it came out as more of a grimace. "I guess we could teach you how to play base ball."

"No need to teach me." Remus said grinning. "My mum's a muggle remember? I know how to play."

"Well then." Stephen said clapping his hands together. "That sounds like a plan."

"What's a plan?" Sirius said hurtling himself behind the chairs and landing on Frank's and James' legs.

Carlee ducked down behind the chairs as well though she was balancing two large, overstuffed plates of assorted goods. Peter and Frank each took a plate for her so that she could crawl over and sit between James and Stephen.

"We're going to play baseball tomorrow. Well, we boys are going to play. But you're more then welcome to watch Carlee." James said, looking as though he honestly thought he said something wrong and had corrected it. Carlee just started at him blankly for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Yeah okay." She said and James looked confused.

"Well, we can do something else later on that you want to do." James said.

"Why can't Carlee play baseball?" Remus asked eyeing James. James looked at Remus with an exasperated look.

"She's a girl!" He said as though his reasoning were perfectly obvious.

"But-"

"Don't bother." Carlee said shaking her head.

"Anyway!" Sirius said loudly before James could say anything else. "I think that we should let Dumbledore know that we are going to play. He said that he wanted to watch the next game."

"Oh yeah!" Frank said smiling. "He seemed rather pleased that we were playing it didn't he. I mean, it's just a game isn't it?"

"I think he liked that fact that you were playing with two other houses." Carlee said.

"What are you guys doing back here?" Kara's face said as it popped over the top of one of the arm chairs. "I specifically told all the first years to go to bed, a long time ago!" He green eyes were flashing dangerously. James and Sirius' shoulders fell. They didn't look abashed for being told off, just disappointed for being caught. Carlee on the other hand didn't look affected by Kara at all. She was smiling up at her still eating a chocolate frog that she had grabbed of the plate that Frank was holding. Peter looked as though he was about to wet himself. "Now, unless you all want to serve a detention, I suggest that you get up, and get off to bed."

"No problem Kara." Carlee said pushing herself into a standing position and then helping James to his feet. Once they were all standing, Kara watching them closely, they made there way to their dorms. Carlee veering right, and the boys heading to the left.

"Well, it's almost one in the morning. We were about to go to bed anyway." Sirius said as though he weren't upset that he was being sent to bed.

"Yeah, it was getting boring anyway." James agreed. Remus just rolled his eyes.

**AN: Hey, so I hope that you liked that chapter, the Quidditch scene was really fun to write. I hope I didn't lose you with all my fictitious names that I had to make up for the team. I do hope that you could follow. I just wrote hope like four times there. Whatever. Reviews are appreciated. :D**

**~Craz**

**Oh! P.S. Don't forget to make a wish. It's 11/11/11! That has to be the coolest date ever! :D**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Okay, I am skipping the baseball scene. Summary? They played baseball, Carlee didn't play, Dumbledore watched, they had fun. There you are. I am hoping to add a bit more Lily/James in this chapter. We'll see.**

**And I am really sorry I didn't update Sunday like I ALWAYS do. My computer died and my dad had to fix the charger because it was broke. Everything is as dandy as a peach now, but I apologize for the delay. **

** Chapter Nineteen: Come Out Come Out Where Ever You Are!**

Remus made quite the show the next week at breakfast. He was feeling ill due to the impending full moon, but he was determined not to let his friends notice. He wasn't sure how much longer they would buy the getting sick every month act, Carlee had already pointed out that he had been sick twice this year. He didn't need them to notice that he was sick for a third time. Plus there was the fact that he most definitely wasn't going to be in the dorm tonight any way. He new that he was just a sitting duck. They were going to piece it all together eventually.

James and Sirius were currently throwing small pieces of their roll at the Slytherin table and then pretending that it wasn't them when the subjected Slytherin turned around to see who was doing it. Remus was trying very hard to look amused at their sport and eat all of his portage, but it wasn't agreeing with his stomach. He could already feel the fever spiking up and it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.

"What do you think your doing?" Lily said, as she and Ella sat down next to where the boys were.

"Who wants to know?" James smirked tossing another piece and then picking up his fork and shoveling eggs into his mouth when Avery turned around. Sirius snickered.

"You guys are so immature." Lily said rolling her bright green eyes.

"Whatever you say." James said grabbing another piece of roll and he was about to throw it when Kara Wise looked down the table and raised her eyebrows at him. He kicked Sirius who turned to look at James, whose hand was still in a very incriminating position. He opened his mouth and motioned for James to toss the bread into it. James did and Sirius threw his fists into the air when he caught it and James clapped for him. "Nice thinking Sirius." James whispered. Kara had lost her interest and went back to eating her breakfast.

"You know, you aren't always going to get away with everything." Lily said in a matter-o-factly voice. "You will eventually get caught."

"We know." Sirius smiled. "We've already been put in detention a few times."

"A few!" Lily snorted. "You've been in detention at least twice a week since school started."

"And?" James asked slinging his arm around her shoulders, which she quickly ducked away from. "What's your point?" Lily didn't answer and just went back to her breakfast and talking to Ella, turning her head to make a curtain of red hair between her and James. Carlee came running into the great hall not two minutes after this exchange and ran up to her sister.

"Here!" She said hurriedly. Shoving a piece of paper into Ella's face. "Sign this. Hurry. I want to send it before classes." Ella didn't even blink at her sister's odd behavior, taking it in stride very nicely, and took the paper and pulled a quill out of her bag and began scrawling a little note at the bottom of the paper, which seemed to be full of Carlee's elegant script. Then, when she was done, she rolled it up and handed it back to Carlee who then raced back out of the great hall and out of sight.

"You know, she is an odd one." James said scratching his chin looking after her with a mock thoughtful look on his face.

"Don't talk about what you don't know Potter." Lilly said menacingly. Ella raised her eyebrows slightly, but other then that, she pretended that she didn't hear the exchange. Remus took this momentary distraction to hang his head and close his eyes. He knew why Lily was acting this way, seeing as it was her who had found Carlee crying alone in the hall, but he didn't really care about anything other then not barfing up his breakfast all over the table.

"What do you mean?" James said with wide eyes. "She's one of my best friends. I think _I_ would know that she's a little off kilter, seeing as how I tend to be with her a lot."

"Whatever Potter." Lily said rolling her eyes, again.

"You know that you can call me James, right?" He said, quickly changing lanes from exasperated to charming; he continued to smile at her for almost a full minute. She ignored him. He shook his head and turned his attention towards Remus and Sirius. "Who do you think it was for? The letter I mean."

"Her brother." Sirius said, shocking Ella, and even Remus found the energy to look surprised that he had an answer. Ella whipped her head around and looked down the row at him.

"Why do you think that?" James asked, he hadn't really been expecting an answer. It was sort of just a game that had concocted itself. Guessing about things that Carlee did or said when she wasn't there.

"I don't know, she told me about him." He shrugged.

"What did she tell you?" Ella asked. Sirius blushed, not having realized that Ella was sitting so close. It was obviously a unspoken rule that they weren't supposed to play this guessing game when Carlee's sister was in such a close proximity.

"Oh, umm. Nothing really. Just that she looks forward to his letters and that he doesn't go here even though he is old enough." He said thinking back to their conversation in the corridor two weeks ago.

"Oh." She said visibly relaxing. "Yeah, Chris is pretty cool."

"Why doesn't he go to Hogwarts?" James asked. Ella shrugged.

"I don't know." It was a lame answer, but none of the boys pushed for any more.

"How old is he?" Lily asked, not so willing to let the subject drop.

"Same as Carlee and I. We're triplets." She said smiling.

"That's so cool." Peter squeaked from his place next to Sirius. Ella looked at him, surprised that he was there; sitting in Sirius' shadow had rendered him practically invisible.

"Then why-" Lily started to ask but was cut off by Sirius who chose that moment to start choking as loudly as he could on a piece of bacon. James started slamming his fist into his back and Remus looked around frantically for a glass of water. He spun his head back and forth to quickly and the room started spinning. He took a deep breath to regain composure and then picked up a glass and handed it to Sirius who took deep drinks until he stopped choking.

After that, Ella gladly joined in their conversation about choking on random objects that ensued, and Lily never got to ask her question. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that that had been Sirius' intention all along.

Carlee made it back just in time to walk over to transfigurations with them and nobody asked her why her brother didn't come to Hogwarts.

"Here you are." Ella said smiling at her sister when they met her by one of the many staircases. "I thought you might want some breakfast."

"What would I do without you?" Carlee said taking the roll and sausage links that Ella had rolled up in a napkin. "Thank you sis."

"No problem. I owe you for all the help you gave me on McGonagall's essay last night." She said grabbing a piece of her hair and twirling it around her finger. "I don't think that I will ever quite grasp Transfigurations."

"Oh darn it." Remus said stomping his foot as they reached McGonagall's hallway. He realized that he really shouldn't have done that, because as his foot hit the ground, a sharp pain shot up through his leg.

"What?" Sirius asked looking back at his friend with a worried expression on his face.

"I forgot my essay back in the dorm." He said, his head was spinning and he was sure that if he didn't sit down soon, he was going to fall over. And that would not work for him at the moment. He needed to be alone; if he fell over they would insist upon taking him to the hospital wing.

"I'll go back and get it with you." James said turning around unfazed by the fact that he would be late.

"No, she'll get angry with you if you're late. I'll go alone. Just be sure to tell her where I am." Remus said hoping desperately that they would listen. James shrugged.

"It's no big deal. I was probably going to get a detention from her today anyway. I'm past due." James smirked over at Lily who was not looking so pleased that she was in such company, but she wanted to walk with Ella, and this is the price she had to pay. "I don't think that she has given me one in like, a whole week!" He said in pseudo-seriousness. "And according to Lily, I am supposed to get at least two a week."

"No, not on my account. You all just go to class. I'll be along in a few minutes." He said turning around and walking towards the stairs.

"Fine." James said and he went of to class with Sirius, Carlee, Ella, Lily, and Peter.

Remus made his way along, weaving in and out of students. He had to stop and lean up against the wall a few different times before he made it to the hospital wing. Of course it had taken him longer then it should have. He had to take extra care to make sure that none of the students saw where he was going.

"Oh Remus!" Madam Pomfry cried when she saw him trying to hoist himself up into one of the beds near the door. "No no dear. I have asked the headmaster to make something for you, and he seemed to think it quite necessary. This way dear." She put and arm around him and led him to the back of the room and opened the door to what Remus assumed to be a coat closet. He looked at her worriedly, but she just shook her head and opened the door.

It was a little room. A little bedroom. There was a large bed, much larger and warmer looking then the hospital beds in the main ward, and a bathroom. The walls were decorated in Gryffindor attire, and it had its own fireplace, a desk, a bookshelf, and a few chairs over in the corner. It was like a miniature dorm room, and all for Remus. He didn't know what to say, so he just wrapped his arms around the Matron's waist and buried his face in her stomach. After today's charade, and all the lying he had to do, Remus was whipped and needed his mother's arms around him. But he made do with Madam Pomfry's. She was so kind to him, she was so much more then he deserved.

"It's wonderful." He said when he pulled away.

"I was hoping that you would like it. I sent a letter to your mother so I could get some family pictures to hang up maybe. Thought that it would make it more homie. Would you like that dear?" She said helping Remus out of his school things and into a night gown. Once he was dressed, she helped him into bed.

"Yes ma'am, but you needn't worry about stuff like that. You already do so much for me; I don't want to be a bother." He said snuggling down into the covers.

"You aren't a bother to me Remus. You really mustn't think of yourself that way." She said placing a cool hand on his forehead. "Try and stay awake until I come back so you can take your potions, alright?" He nodded.

After he took his potions, he drifted off into a quiet slumber in his new room.

"Where is he?" Sirius whispered to James.

"How am I supposed to know?" James hissed back. "I've been with you this whole bloody time!"

"He said that he was coming right back." Sirius said.

"Maybe he's skipping." Peter whispered thinking it a plausible expination. James, Sirius, and Carlee looked blankly at Peter before they all busted out laughing.

"Care to share what's so humorous?" McGonagall said looking up from the papers that she was currently grading. They were supposed to be working out how to transform a playing card into a mask of the face that was on the card. Nobody had yet succeeded. "I don't find anything comical about not being able to complete one's assignment." The Slytherins on the other side of the room started snickering at them. "That goes for you as well." She said glaring at them over the top of her eyeglasses. She turned her gaze back to James, Sirius, and Carlee. Peter had ducked away from them and was pretending to flip through his book for further instructions.

"We're sorry professor." James said, having the good sense to look ashamed of himself.

"Well, get to work then." She said going back to grading papers.

They ended their conversation until the end of class when they were making their way to Charms.

"I hate Tuesdays." Carlee said stomping out of the classroom.

"That's a weird thing to hate." Sirius smirked.

"Not really." James said. "I am not too fond of them either."

"Then you're both nuts. And it's Wednesday anyway. Now let's find Remus." Sirius said grabbing James and Carlee's arms and dragging them away. Peter was trailing along after them.

"Where do you think he is?" James asked, looking confused as Sirius dragged them passed the library. "I don't think he would skip in the library. He would be caught if he was there. He is much smarter then that."

"We aren't looking in the library. I don't think that he skipped." Sirius said.

"He wasn't in class." Carlee pointed out. "What else could he have been doing?"

"I don't know. But this is Remus. He doesn't skip class." Sirius said furrowing his brow.

"Are _we_ going to be skipping Charms?" James asked as Sirius pulled them all pasted the Charms classroom.

"Well, we have to check the dorm for Remus, don't we?"

"What if he is in the Charms classroom?" Carlee asked.

"Yeah!" Peter asked, hobbling after them still.

"Okay, Carlee and Peter, you two go to charms. James and I will check the dorm. If he isn't there, we'll come straight back." Sirius said, only a little annoyed that Carlee wanted to go to class with Peter rather then go scope out the dorm room with James and him.

"So you two will get a detention and Peter and I don't have to be late?" Carlee said. "Sounds like a plan." Her and Peter doubled around and went back to class and James and Sirius continued on to the Gryffindor common room.

"Why isn't he in here!" Sirius shouted after he and James looked all over their room, and the common room.

"Maybe Carlee was right and he is back in class." James shrugged. "We should get down there anyway."

"Fine. But if he isn't, we are taking our lunch to find him."

"You do know that he is capable of taking care of himself right. He doesn't need us to come running after him the minute he doesn't show up." James said.

"People don't just vanish James." Sirius said as they made there way down the stairs.

Remus woke up a few hours after he had gotten into bed and he had the feeling that he was being watched. He tried to get his eyes to open, but he felt too tired to even exert that much energy.

"You needn't wake up." A soft and gentle voice said from his right. It sounded slightly familiar, but Remus couldn't place it. "You need your rest." It said and then an invisible hand draped a cool cloth over his head and Remus didn't fight his mind as it lulled back into unconsciousness.

"Where is he?" Sirius shouted exasperated as they all sat down at dinner. Sirius had made them all skip lunch to try and find Remus, but their efforts had been futile. Remus could have up and left the castle for all they knew. They looked every where and he was no where to be found.

"What if something bad happened to him?" Peter squealed for like the ninetieth time that day. Carlee made another tick off on her parchment and James rolled his eyes.

"I think that we should tell McGonagall." Carlee said. She had started to look worried after they had double checked all of the bathrooms and the library.

"Yeah. Alright." Sirius said swinging his leg around off the bench and he started walking up to the teacher's table.

"Now? Alright." James sighed also standing up. Carlee and Peter quickly followed them.

When they finally made their way up to the staff table, they were met with odd looks from some of the teachers. Sirius, didn't seem to mind and walked straight up to McGonagall.

"May I help you Mr. Black?" She asked setting down her dinnerware.

"I have reason to believe that my friend Remus Lupin is missing." He said looking her dead in the eye.

"And what has led you to believe this?" She asked looking quite taken back by the bold statement.

"He skipped all of today's classes, and we haven't been able to find him." Sirius said. "Didn't you notice that he wasn't in your class today?"

"Of course I did, but a student missing class doesn't mean that he is missing."

"So you don't believe me?" Sirius asked. "Listen, we have looked everywhere. The library, the dorm room, the Slytherin's corridor, the bathrooms, all the empty hall ways, Filch's office, and he is no where."

"Well, I will make sure to find the whereabouts of Mr. Lupin. Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention." She said addressing the small crowd of Gryffindors in front of her.

Sirius sighed and turned around to walk back to their spots, the rest following behind him, looking just as down hearted as he felt.

"She doesn't think it's a big deal." Sirius muttered angrily, pushing his plate away from him, which surprised everyone. Losing Remus seemed to be affecting him the most, and that is how he saw it too. He thought that he _lost_ his best friend. He never should have let him go alone to get his homework.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Carlee said nodding towards the staff table. McGonagall and Dumbledore were whispering quickly back and forth with each other and then McGonagall nodded in their direction and Dumbledore turned to look at them. They all quickly averted their eyes and pretended to be eating their supper.

"He could be anywhere right now." Sirius sighed. Then his eyes widened in fear and he looked at James and Peter. "What if he had a panic attack and got himself hurt?"

"Of course!" James said, not so much worried as relived. "We didn't even think to check the hospital wing."

"Panic attacks?" Carlee asked.

"Yeah, he gets them sometimes. I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" He said hitting himself on the forehead and then jumping up and running towards the door. The others followed him.

"Has he had a panic attack before?"

"Yeah, the first day of school we had to take him down to Madam Pomfry because he had one and cut his hands open on his trunk." James said as they trotted down the hall, Sirius a good ways ahead of him.

When they reached the hospital wing, they gathered in the middle of the room and saw that Madam Pomfry was bending over one of the beds in the back corner tending to somebody that they couldn't see.

"Okay, that should be good. Just don't over exert your knee and you should be fine." She was telling the student. Sirius tried to maneuver around so that he could see the kids face, but he couldn't see them until the matron moved to the side and revealed a second year Hufflepuff who hopped of the bed and started walking towards them.

"Excuse me." She said politely and they parted.

"May I help you?" Madam Pomfry asked glancing over all of them and finding them all to be in good health at first glance. She walked closer, hoping to reveal something about one of them.

"No." Sirius sighed. "We were checking to see if Remus was in here, but he obviously isn't."

"Nope, he isn't. Why would he be, is he hurt?" She asked worriedly.

"I don't think so. We just can't find him.?" Sirius muttered. Then he turned and walked out without another word.

"Sorry about him." Carlee smiled. "He hates losing Hide-and-seek."

**AN: Here you all are. Again I am sorry for the delay.**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:At twenty chapters and over 60,000 words, this is the longest story I have ever written! :D I am pretty proud of myself for sticking with it. I really want to finish it, just so I can say that I did. I always have a really hard time ending stories, so I am kind of glad this one comes with a pre cut ending. Not glad about what happens, but still. It makes things a bit easier for me. Though I don't really want to write it how it's supposed to happen, because I don't want to kill Lily and James. I love them! **

**And I just want to tell you that I am pretty proud of this chapter. I have part of it in Dumbledore's point of view, which I think turned out pretty cool. Anyway, I hope you like it. Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter Twenty: **

Remus came into a tortured state of consciousness sometime in the wee hours of the morning. He couldn't move without surrendering himself to screams that seemed to be reflexive and beyond his control. He tried to focus his mind on something while he waited patiently for the matron to come and collect him in his broken, naked state.

He couldn't turn his head to look at something more stimulating them the base bored of the old wall he was lying near, so he had to make do with counting the grains and dents in the wood. He was hoping that his body would do the humane thing and pass out letting him be unconscious for the worst part of the whole ordeal. But unlike most mornings after the transformations, he was wide awake and completely aware of everything that was going on around him. He could hear the blood dripping off his thigh and falling onto the floor, creating a pool of useless red liquid. He could feel the bruises that were still forming on his back and lower legs, and he was almost positive that at least one of his arms were broken. He was in pain and there was nothing he could do, and no one here to help him yet.

He changed his mind. The waiting for the transformation wasn't the worst part, waiting for help, now that was most definitely the worst part.

Well, it was more painful then before the transformation.

He didn't know how long he sat there in the growing pool of his own blood, but eventually Madam Pomfry came for him. He heard her gasp before he registered what must have been her foot steps. But she came up behind him and seeing as how he was facing the wall, he couldn't see her.

"Oh dear boy." She said removing a bed sheet from the four poster bed that was in the room that Remus had convenently ended up in. "Don't worry dear, we'll get you fixed up." She whispered as she conjured up a stretcher and lifted him onto it. They made there way through the tunnel and a crossed the grounds with Remus lying as still as a corpse, trying desperately not to move any part of his body. Once inside the new addition to the hospital wing, the matron took no time in giving him a sleeping potion and letting the sleep numb his body to the pain he was feeling.

James rolled over in his bed and groaned. It was bloody freezing in their dorm! He pulled the duvet up to his chin and tucked his knees up to his chest, hoping to warm himself up with his own body heat. He was just about to fall back asleep when his curtains were ripped open and his only guard against the cold was savagely ripped away from him.

"He's still not here!" Sirius hissed hoping onto James' bed and pulling the curtains closed around him. He had decided that they shouldn't draw it to everyone's attention just yet, much on Carlee's persistence, and therefore had acted as though nothing was out of the norm when they came to bed last night. Peter had been instructed to come up early and close his hangings and none of them mentioned that he was missing. "I still think we should tell them, maybe they know something."

"Yeah, maybe Remus ran into one of them before he disappeared and told them where he was going. Oh wait, they were all in class with us." James said annoyed to have been woken up so early. "Look I want to find Remus too, but the teachers know about it now, we just have to wait." The look that Sirius gave James was one that someone would give an extremely infuriating incompetent person.

"You are an awful friend." Sirius said angrily. "Remus is missing Potter, missing. And all you care about is sleeping."

"That's not what I meant." James said, quickly back tracking. "You know that I want to find him."

"I do know that, so you're lucky." He said bashing James over the head with his own pillow.

"Okay, seeing as how we already searched the entire castle, and we have classes today, what do you want to do to find him?"

"We should ask McGonagall first." Sirius said thoughtfully. He was stumped after that. They _had_ already searched the whole castle, and he was sure that they would have found him the first time through if he was there to be found.

"We should probably take notes for him." James said his hand twitching on his lap. This caught Sirius' attention. "I'll do Defense."

"Potions." Sirius said. They both knew that there was one other class. History of Magic and neither of them had been able to stay awake for a whole lesson yet. "Nose goes!" Sirius shouted quickly dragging his hand up to his nose. James had been ready and beat him by a fraction of a second. James let out a sigh of relief.

"You had me worried there for a minute." James said smirking. "Now come on, let's go check with McGonagall to see if we even have to write notes for him.

"Kay." Sirius jumped off James' bed and the two of them get dressed quickly and rushed down the stairs to the great hall. Everybody was in the process of waking up and meandering down for breakfast and to there surprise, when they got down to the great hall, McGonagall's seat was empty. As was Dumbledore's. They looked at each other and then sat down at the Gryffindor table, allowing Carl to drag them into a conversation about Quidditch, which he had taken up rather quickly.

"We'll just wait till she gets here." James said looking around to make sure that she wasn't just issuing a detention or something. Sirius nodded, but he didn't think that the absence of the headmaster and the deputy headmistress was a good sign. He felt the knots in his stomach tighten.

"Professor, I have told you already that the boy has every right to be here. Denying him the chance at an education would be unfair to him and his family." Dumbledore said rubbing his temples with his eyes closed. He thought that he had finished this conversation with Minerva last night when he told her of Remus' condition. But low and behold, first thing this morning, she was standing outside his office door, waiting to come in. He wasn't at all happy about this. He was looking forward to this mornings breakfast, they were going to be serving banana pancakes and honeyed ham slices. That was his favorite. He supposed that he could just have some of the house elves bring some up to him later.

"I know what you have said, but have you thought about the safety of the other students?" She asked raising her brows and increasing her hawk likeness. "It kept me up all last night. What if something happened, what if one of his dorm mates got injured, or bitten? How would we explain that to their parents?" She instantly regretted asking if he thought about the safety of his students. The look he gave her said it all.

"Of course I have weighed the possible problems." He said narrowing his eyes. "I don't know how you can suggest such a thing. Hogwarts has, and will continue to be, one of the safest places on earth for _all._" He said, his tone more dangerous then Minerva had ever been forced to bare witness to. "I have taken precautions, and so has Remus for that matter, and he doesn't pose as a threat to anyone but himself. You don't honestly think that I let him transform in his dorm do you? You don't think that he would let himself transform in his room?"

"Well, no. I didn't think that you would allow for that. Everybody in his dorm, and maybe my whole house, would be dead after three full moons." She said curtly. She was sorry she offended him, but she was still upset with him.

"Minerva, I think that we are done with this discussion." He said rising from his chair. Minerva sat down and looked at him pointedly. He sighed and sat back down. "Continue then." He said deciding to look at her this time while she spoke. He had been expecting her to be on his side with this. She was usually calm and thought logically of things. She had a good head on her shoulders, he didn't understand why she could suddenly want one of her star pupils out of the school after knowing him for three months as nothing more then a boy.

"Don't you think that everybody has a right to know?" She said slowly. "To know what they are going to school with, with what they are sharing a dorm with?"

"No." Dumbledore said softly. "Well, perhaps in good time." He added. Minerva gave him a look that rarely graced her features, one of confusion.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I want you to think about this with me for a moment." He said standing up and crossing the room to the window on the side of his office. He looked out, a crossed the black lack and remembered getting up this morning to watch Madam Pomfry carry a mangled eleven year old boy back into the castle. "What do you think would happen if we told everyone that Remus Lupin was a werewolf?"

"They wouldn't want him to go to school here." Minerva said promptly. "They would tell their parents, the ministry would find out and you would lose your place as headmaster for allowing him here in the first place."

Dumbledore smiled at her now. At least he knew that some of what she was saying sprouted from the fact that she was worried about his removal. He to had pondered over this, but he didn't think he would be able to forgive himself if he didn't let Remus come to school here. And he knew that he didn't need anything else on his conscious.

Had the circumstances been different he wouldn't have admitted Remus, and he wouldn't have felt too horrible either. But when he met Remus for the first time, he had to admit to himself at the very least, that he was surprised by the boy before him.

_*Four months earlier:_

"My wife and I can't thank you enough." John Lupin rambled on as he paced back and forth in front of his old headmasters desk. "Oh, what this will mean!" He cried out running both of his hands through his brown locks. He had aged so much over such a short period of time. Dumbledore smiled sadly at him. He had always liked John, he was a good dedicated student, and not to long ago either. He should have to deal with this.

"Now John, I did not give my permission yet, and even if I do, there are still many kinks that need to be smoothed out before I can allow him to come here."

"I know." John said, his smile not dimming. There was a knock on the door. John looked, for a moment, as if he were going to go and open it, but thought better of it and instead looked to Dumbledore and waited for him to allow his wife and child in.

"Come in." Dumbledore said, hoping for the best. He really didn't know what to expect. After all his years of teaching, and living in general, he was more surprised really to conclude that he had never held a conversation with a werewolf. He had taken precautions as not to fall to the prejudices of the wizarding world, and yet his mind had been tarnished before he could make his own judgments. So he set out to rectify this by having this meeting with Remus and his parents.

The door to his office opened slowly and a slight woman with thick blonde waves walked in looking rather out of place wearing all muggle attire. He red cotton dress fell to just above her knees and her trench coat stopped just below that. She looked years younger then her husband, but Dumbledore knew this not to be the case. She was only three years younger then him. The stress of having a werewolf son seemed to have gotten to him more then her. She looked soft and gentle, as though having a mythical creature as a son and walking into a castle full of wizards was the most normal thing in the word for her, even though she was a muggle. She held herself with dignity and great poise even though Dumbledore could tell by the guarded look in her hazel eyes that she was expecting the worst.

She was holding the hand of a small boy with dark blue eyes. Not quite matching his father's in color, but the size and shape was an exact copy. His hair was a perfect mix between his father's brown and his mother's blond and his mouth was turned upside down in a small frown. He wasn't expecting much either. Dumbledore guessed that after years of being down trotted, this small child had already learned not to get his hopes up.

"Hello Remus." Dumbledore said gently. He noticed as they walked up to his desk that Remus was walking with a limp. His left leg dragged slightly as he made his way up to one of the three chairs that were lined up in front of Dumbledore. He let go of his mother's hand and stood beside one of the chairs.

"Hello sir. How do you do?" He nodded. Dumbledore smiled a bit wider.

"I am fine, why don't you take a seat."

"Thank you sir." Remus said nodding again and sitting down. Dumbledore nodded at his parents and they took a chair on either side of him.

"So, you would like to come to Hogwarts then?" Dumbledore asked gazing over his half moon spectacles at the small boy. He couldn't believe how normal he was. If he hadn't have known that Remus was a werewolf before hand, he knew that there was no way that he would have guessed. There were no tell tale signs. Nothing about him said werewolf. Dumbledore had to look away from him for a moment to collect himself. He was ashamed of what he realized that he had been expecting. He had fallen victim to the ideals of the mass public. He had been expecting a monster to walk through the door, not a human boy.

"Yes sir, very much." Remus said sitting up a little straighter. "I would like to go here very much." He repeated quieter.

"Can you tell me why?" Dumbledore asked, he knew that whatever the answers, he was going to let him in. He was going to make sure that Remus Lupin would have a spot in Hogwarts and that he would be safe to grow and learn while at school.

"I want to learn sir. To study magic, to become a great wizard." He said quite determinedly.

"Do you like learning?"

"Oh yes. I love reading about history and philosophy." He answered promptly.

"Have you read anything about Hogwarts?"

"Well, we don't have any wizard shops near by, but my dad had _Hogwarts, A History_, so I have read that a few times." He said almost in an ashamed tone. Dumbledore raised his brows and looked at the book shelf directly behind the Lupin family and eyed the 397 page book that was leaning up against some other old history books and then back at Remus.

"A few times?" Remus nodded. "That in it's self is rather impressive. What did you find most interesting?"

"The come and go room." He answered with out having to think at all.

"Ahh yes. The room of requirements." Dumbledore nodded. "You know, I have never actually been able to find the room myself, but who knows, you may get lucky."

John beamed down at his son who hadn't changed his expression. Dumbledore got the feeling that Remus didn't want to put to much store in a statement that could mean that he was going to come here, or could just be a pleasantry.

"Remus, I am going to allow you to come here."

"Really?" He asked, keeping his expression schooled. His mother had lost the guarded look and was smiling now. All three of the adults were looking at him, waiting for the news to sink in. "You mean it?"

"I am sure that I can come up with somewhere for you to go during the full moon and seeing as how that one night would be the only night when you would be dangerous, I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed here as long as you are safety out of the way while you transform."

"Thank you." Remus said standing up. He repeated it over and over as he was engulfed into a hug by his parents.

_*Back to now_:

"I understand your concerns Professor, but I promise you that Remus Lupin is less of a threat to the students here then most. Some times you have to look past what you think you know and allow for your mind to make it's own decisions." He walked back over to his desk and his eyes flittered over _Hogwarts, A History_ that he had since moved to his desk.

"I know, and in most cases I agree with you. But-" Dumbledore cut her off by raising his hand.

"I want you to go and visit him Minerva. Go down after lessons today and talk to him. He is in the hospital wing. Just tell Poppy that I sent you. She will show you to him."

"I don't know if I can do that Sir." She said looking down at the floor.

"You don't have to talk to him, he will most likely be asleep all day. He had a pretty rough night."

"Okay, I will. But what am I supposed to tell his friends. They are afraid that he has up and left the school or disappeared. They came and told me they thought him to be missing last night at dinner."

"Tell them that he had to go home for a day or two, but he'll be back soon." Dumbledore said.

"They will only buy that for so long. You don't know Potter and Black like I do. They are very clever boys Albus. They will figure things out on their own."

"And sometimes that is the best way to figure things out. Hopefully when they do, they will have gotten to know the real Remus enough and be able to look past his affliction." Dumbledore looked up at Minerva and frowned. "He never asked for this you know. He was only four."

"I know." Minerva sighed and looked down at the floor before taking this as her cue to leave. She now had to go and convince the boys that their friend was in fact okay. She couldn't help but feel like she would be lying about more then his location.

**AN: Hey everybody, I hope you like this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing in Dumbledore's POV. Reviews please? Tell me what you think. Love it hate it? Tell me something.**

**~Craz :D**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: This chapter is a bit darker, but I hope you like it anyway. **

** Chapter Twenty-One: Under attack**

McGonagall caught Sirius, James, and Carlee just as they were leaving the Great Hall. "Boys, excuse me boys!" She called after them. They all turned around to look at her.

"I am actually a female." Carlee said cocking her head to the side and grinning at her head of house.

"I am sorry Miss. Baker." McGonagall nodded curtly, she did not appreciate her tongue very much. "I just wanted to inform you all that Mr. Lupin is indeed just fine." She said looking down and watching them all relax at her words. "His presence was required at home and he shall be back fairly soon."

"Why'd he go home?" Sirius asked before McGonagall had finished pronouncing her 'n.'

"I do not know Mr. Black. I only know that he is at home."

"Thank you Professor." James said smiling up at her before Sirius could say anything else and land himself in detention. McGonagall nodded and then stalked off in the opposite direction.

"I wonder why he went home." James said leading his two friends down the hall to Defense class.

"I don't know. Maybe something happened to one of his parents." Sirius said. Carlee nodded.

"That's the only thing I can think of as well." She bit her lip and looked down. "I am not very good at comforting people. What if something really bad did happened?"

"I'm sure it was nothing to serious." James said without looking at either of his worried friends. He didn't see how something awful could happen just out of the blue. They were all eleven, bad things didn't happen to them.

"Well, we're going to take notes for him today." Sirius said looking sideways at Carlee. "James is doing Defense, I'm doing potions. You think that you could do-"

"Yeah, I'll do History of Magic." Carlee said rolling her eyes as they walked into Professor Perkins' classroom. "Seeing as how if either of you took notes, half of the page would consist of drool."

"I'm glad that you understand." Sirius said smirking.

They walked into class and took their customary seats in the middle of the room. Some Ravenclaw's sat mixed around them with their fellow Gryffindors. Coral and Savannah sat in front of them to an angle, and Coral looked back at them and waved to Carlee then did a double take.

"Where's Remus?" She asked seeing the empty seat between Peter and James. "He sick again?" She asked, actually looking a little concerned.

"No, mind your own business C-" Sirius stopped yelling at her as Carlee stomped on his foot.

"He had to go home; we don't know anything more then that." She said. Coral was not the only one listening at that point.

"Had to go home?" Savannah asked also turning around in her seat to face Carlee. "But, that means that something awfully terrible must have happened. I hope everything is alright."

"I'm sure he would appreciate your concern," Carlee said with a small smile, "But frown upon your speculating. He's not one to talk about others without them around." She said smoothly.

"Yes, that's true." James said. "For all we know it's his mom's birthday and she wanted him home for it."

"She took him out of school for her birthday?" Mary asked, joining the conversation.

"I don't know!" James said. "I was only offering up something."

"She's a muggle, so I guess it's possible." Peter shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?" Lily asked whipping her head around.

"N-nothing!" Peter said quickly.

"Oh come off it Lily." James said shaking his head. "He only meant that the customs are a bit different."

"For birthdays?" Lily asked incredibly.

"Maybe." Sirius said. "Ever been to a wizard birthday party?" Lily scoffed and turned around so that her back was to them. "That's what I thought."

"You guys are impossible." Carlee said smiling down the line and Sirius, James, and Peter.

"I beg to differ!" Sirius said quickly turning around to face her.

"Of course you do." Carlee said rolling her eyes. "That's what you do best, isn't it."

"I'd agree with you on that." Frank said coming to take Remus' empty seat. "First night I met them they said that they would be willing to meet a werewolf just because Ian and Stephen said that they were dangerous and what not."

"Really?" Carlee said looking at Sirius and James with raised eyebrows.

"We did say that." James said nodding.

"Did you mean it?" Carlee asked still eyeing them strangely.

"I don't know. If the moment presents itself, I guess I'll make my decision then." Sirius shrugged. "But don't you tell anyone I said that." He said rounding on Frank.

"Hey!" Frank said putting his hands up. "I wouldn't do that to you guys. I'm the good one, remember?"

"Well, you _have_ yet to get on my bad side." Sirius mused. "That's more then I can say for the rest of our dorm mates."

"Yep, that's why I am sitting here today if you don't mind. Stephen and Orian are at it again, and I don't really want to be a part of it. Or be any where near it for that matter."

"Understood. Just remember that you are sitting in Remus' chair, so don't get to comfortable." James said pulling out his homework and passing it forward as Perkins was now instructing them to do. "He will be back soon."

"Got it." Frank said smiling gratefully.

"Alright class, we are going to try out a new spell today. This is the jelly-legs jinx. First I will give you a little back ground, and then teach you the correct want movements and pronunciation, and then we will cast the tables aside and you will all partner off." She flicked her wand once and all of their scrolls landed on a neat pile on her desk, and then they toppled off. She looked behind her and sighed. Then she muttered something under her breath and tried the spell again. The same result ensued.

"What do you think is going on?" Sirius whispered to James and Carlee.

"Please be quiet students." She said rather callously, this shut Sirius up faster then McGonagall ever had. She then put her wand back in her pocket and picked up the scrolls by hand and balanced them atop her desk. When she turned around again, she had lost her smile and refused to look any of them in the eye. "Now, the Jelly-leg Jinx does exactly as its title implies. It renders ones legs unusable for they will have the feel of being made from Jelly. It does wear off eventually, but it has a quick fix to it as well. But we are learning this Jinx today. I want everybody to copy these notes off the board and no talking please." She flicked her wand at the board and instead of her neat penmanship appearing on the board, a scratchy, hard to read set of words appeared. She pretended not to notice and took a seat at her desk.

The rest of the class went by in the most boring, most tense fashion that it ever had in Defense class. When the bell finally rung, everybody all but ran out the door. The practical part of the lesson never happened and she gave them practically the whole hour to decipher her chicken scratch.

"Well that was just awful." Carlee said when they had finally made it far enough away from Perkins' room to be comfortable talking. Which was almost three stories difference. They were almost to History of Magic now.

"Something must have happened to her too." James said. "I mean, she was defiantly one of my favorite teachers. Now, she is just scary."

"I hate to agree with you." Sirius said hanging his head. "But I thought I was going to pee myself when she yelled at me."

"I know!" Carlee said flailing her arms. "I don't know what came over her. She's angry, her magic isn't working."

"Actually it was in the reverse order." Ella said sneaking up behind them. "Her magic wasn't working properly and then she got angry." Lily, Savannah, Mary, and Coral were trailing behind them as well.

"So something happened to make her magic stop working." Carlee nodded. "What can happen that would cause that."

"Trauma." Frank said promptly. "Sometimes after a close loved one dies, their friends and family can have some inconsistencies in their magic. My mom couldn't do magic properly for nearly a month after her mom died."

"Oh but surly Professor Perkins would have taken some time off if that were the case. I couldn't see Professor Dumbledore disallowing it."

"Of course." Frank said. "I am only saying."

"There is to much going on this week." Sirius sighed. "Perkins' is a mess, Remus disappeared, what's next?"

Well, that was answered the next morning at breakfast. When the morning paper showed up, the great hall erupted into an uproar of dismay. James and Sirius couldn't believe their eyes as the read the front page article. They scanned the whole thing twice, trying to ignore the noise of their fellow students.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the hall, echoing off the walls and working very well to get everyone to stop talking. "Sit down please." They all seemed to be moving simultaneously.

"Well, know we know why Perkins is so upset." Carlee said. James and Sirius looked at her quite confused. She rolled her eyes. "Jonathan Perkins." She said pointing to the name on the article. "She is probably related or something."

"Now." Dumbledore said standing at his podium to talk to them. "I know that this news is very concerning to all of you. But we need to control how we let that be known to others." He scanned the hall and then took a deep breath.

"It seems that there is a force at large within our community working to do harm to some of us." He picked up the newspaper. "16 murdered and 7 captured. This is of course awful news."

"Awful?" A Ravenclaw girl asked standing up. "That's my sisters name listed under murdered." She started crying and Hannah Klip, the seeker or the Ravenclaw Quidditch team put an arm around her and pulled her back down.

"I know that some of you have lost people who you are very near and dear to. I want to assure all of you that the ministry is working very diligently to capture whoever it is that is behind these attacks. I also want to let you know that while you are at school, no harm can come to you. You are all perfectly safe here."

"What about Remus?" Peter gasped. "He's at his home." Sirius looked at Peter with wide eyes. As if he wasn't worried about Remus enough as it was.

"I don't think you have to worry about me." Remus said cheekily sliding on to the bench space next to James. He was moving rather slow, but none of his friends seemed to notice much. They were about to bombard him with questions when Dumbledore started to speak again and Remus put his hand up, motioning for them to listen.

"The news of this is devastating, but we have to stick together. Without each other, we are powerless. Classes will be canceled for today, I encourage all of you to write home to your families. Georgia Berton and Eustace Green, please come with me to my office please."

The whole school was silent as they watched Georgia and Eustace stand and follow the headmaster. Eustace was walking in a sort of trance, his little legs moving robotically and his eyes looking blank. Georgia was still crying but being 5 years older then Eustace, she put an arm around him and helped him out of the great hall.

"They weren't all muggle borns this time either." Remus said looking over the list of names printed on the paper. "Georgia Berton's sister was a pure blood. She only married a muggle born, who was also murdered. They had two kids. One of them was taken and the other is currently with Georgia's mother." Remus shook his head. "Who does that? Takes children? Tears apart families like that?"

"I don't know." James sighed. "This is awful. Let's head back up to the common room. Everybody is bound to head up there anyway." They nodded and got up from there seats. Everybody seemed to take their lead and soon all 153 Gryffindors were held up in the common room whispering quietly to each other.

"Okay." Kara Wise said standing up. "What the hell is going on here. Things like this don't just happen." She started pacing back and forth."

"Another attack. That's two in three months. And what does that bring the body count to?" Cleo Downing, one of the chasers, said putting her head in her hands. "I mean think about it. Poor little Eustace, his mother was killed. And Georgia's sister's family was destroyed."

"I know." Molly Pewett said from her seat. Her older brother was sitting next to her with a consoling hand on her shoulder and her boyfriend Arthur holding her hand. "What do they want with such small children?"

"I don't know." Emery Brown said quietly from her chair next to the fire. "I have no clue what anyone could possibly gain from killing innocent people."

Professor McGonagall walked in, only slightly surprised to see all of her house gathered in the room. "Well miss. Brown, that's just it. The people behind these attacks don't see these people as innocent." She said, not needing to talk loud at all despite all the people in the room. All eyes were on her, searching her for new information. "Muggle borns have caused a controversy throughout the wizarding community for years. Some old pure blood families don't think that muggle borns are worthy of having magic. Some think that in order for a muggle born to have magic, they must have stolen it from a _proper _wizard. It's all nonsense, but that is how some people think."

"Professor, why hasn't the ministry been able to catch them?" Mary McDonald asked, being one of the loudest first years she had no problem talking in front of her whole house. Some other students nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, why not? They can't be that organized, can they?" Kingsly asked from Mary's immediate right.

"I don't know." McGonagall sighed. "I wish I could promise you that after you go to bed tonight, this would be nothing but a memory, but it doesn't appear to be that way. Our world may very well be coming under attack and I think you all have the right to know that. Some other professors wanted me to try and console all of you. But between Richards uncle being taken and Joyce's grandfather missing, I feel that I owe you all the truth. It's looking as though our families might be in danger right now, and I don't have any consoling words for that." She said putting an arm around Joyce as the seventeen year old girl cried shamelessly. "Shhh. Dear girl, I do hope that everything ends up alright."

"Professor, why did Dumbledore take Eustace and Georgia?" Molly asked quietly.

"They are going to go home for a while. To be with family and attend the funerals." She said sadly.

"But if they leave the castle, they won't be safe any more!" Sirius shouted jumping to his feet. Some students jumped, having forgotten he was there because of how quiet he had been.

"Mr. Black, I am sure that the headmaster has thought of ways to keep them and their family's safe while they are away. He values your safety more then you know." Her gaze shifted over to Remus. "All over you." She quickly looked away before anyone except Remus could tell what she meant by that. Remus now knew that McGonagall knew about his secret. He hung his head and started playing with the carpet rug. "Now I have to go and talk with the other teachers and figure out what we are going to be doing for the rest of the week. Please don't get into any trouble today." She said, looking over a few students in her house that were notoriously known for their shenanigans, Sirius, James, and Carlee being three of them.

"We do know when it would be inappropriate to do something ma'am." Carlee said softly. "Now would most defiantly be one of those times."

"Well, I thought I would put it out there any how." She said smiling. "Try not to dwell on this to much. Everything shall work out in the end."

"Yeah, but how far off is the end?" Someone asked. McGonagall sighed and left her students to themselves.

Later that day, after Sirius, James, Carlee, Remus, and Peter had congregated up to their dorm and were alone, Sirius thought it was now a good time to ask Remus where he had been for the last three days.

"Well, I had to go home." Remus said shifting his eyes all around the room, reusing to look at any of them.

"Yes, but why?" James asked.

"Umm… my mother is ill." He said quietly. He looked quite shocked after he said it too. He couldn't believe that he had said that.

"Oh Remus, is she alright now?" Carlee said coming down and putting a hand on his knee. Sirius and James also moved closer. Peter looked to frightened to move and stayed up on his bed.

"Your mother?" He asked softly bringing his hands up to cover his mouth. "I don't know what I would do if my mother got sick."

"She's a little better, but she's still ill." Remus said, not knowing where this abundance of lies were coming from. He also couldn't help but think about what they would do if they found out that they were in such close proximity with a werewolf right now. Carlee would be disgusted that she had actually touched it and James and Sirius wouldn't be able to believe that they had tried to comfort him. He looked over at his friends and sighed. He had to lie. If he didn't, if he told them the truth, he would lose them. And he couldn't lose them. "But I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"Okay." Carlee said very quickly. "What do you want to do?"

"If you could catch me up on lessons, that would be great."

"Sure." Sirius said smiling. "We even took note for you."

**AN: More Voldemort stuff for you. Hope you liked. Review?**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Here is chapter 22, the big 2-2. I hope you like it. There is a bit of Slytherin, Gryffindor tension in here, and probably some more werewolf stuff. That is what I am hoping for anyway, I wonder if I will change this if it turns out differently? I don't know. Probably not. **

**I was right, so I am not going to change it, I just wanted to apologize for it being late. Sorry. :I**

** Chapter Twenty-two: Something worse the a Bludger to the Head**

Things started to quiet down by the middle of next week, when the students had something else to focus on. With the up coming Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, everyone was grateful for the distraction.

It was the Slytherins first match of the year, and they were pumped. They took every chance they had to try and hex all the Hufflepuff members' naïve enough to walk around the corridors without a large group of their house, or Gryffindors near by. They might have risked it if the there were a few Ravenclaws, but only because the Ravenclaws, for the most part, were refusing to take part in any of the pre-game activities because they were up next to play Slytherin and they were under strict orders from their captain not to retaliate, or get involved in any way.

James, Carlee, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were rounding the corner on their way to Charms when they had their first run in with the Slytherins. James actually almost ran into the back of one of the older Slytherins, but he was able to stop himself just in time and take a step back. This caused Peter to step on his heels, but it was better then angering the burly 6th year.

That is when they noticed that there were five Slytherins gathered around the two youngest members of the Hufflepuff team. One of them was sporting a bloody lip, the other a black eye. The five first years were quite taken back by this scene. They had yet to actually see the Slytherins actually cause harm to anyone like this. And even though they weren't exactly fans of Slytherin, they didn't think that the older students would be so cruel as to pick on the younger students at such overpowering numbers.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled stepping up to the ring and looking around, quickly going red in the face with anger from the injustice of the situation. All of the Slytherins were 4th year or older, and the Hufflepuffs were a 2nd and a 3rd year. "What do you all think you are doing?"

"Oh ho," The 6th year said turning around and facing James who gulped, but stood his ground. "And what do we have here. A couple of self riotous first year Gryffindors come to save the day?" He looked around at his housemates and they laughed along with him. "Wait a second, aren't you the kids who sent my little brother to the hospital a while back?" He asked pointing at James and Sirius. Sirius nodded smugly and then looked over at James confused.

"Not that I don't want to claim credit," James said in the meekest tone any of them had ever heard him use. "But no, I didn't send your little brother to the hospital wing."

"Actually, it was me." Carlee said stepping forward so that she was shoulder to shoulder with Sirius. "But I can see why he wouldn't want to admit to being beaten up by a girl."

"_You_ hit him?" The boy said raising his eyebrows, two of the other Slytherin boys also looked shocked. "I find that highly unlikely." He laughed at her and she shrugged.

"I didn't know that Henson had an older brother." James mused, gaining courage from Carlee's smart-alech retort. "Though if I were him, I wouldn't tell anybody either."

"You think you're all tough. In case you hadn't noticed, you're out numbered. It's five to four. Plus, you're all first years." He snickered.

"Actually, there are five of us too." James said looking behind him and seeing only Remus. "Hey, where did Peter go?" Remus shrugged and looked down the hall, he wanted to follow Peter, but he couldn't run away like he had. Then he took a deep breath and stepped up next to James.

"And I think we should count Albert and Luke as well, seeing as how I highly doubt that either of them are going to help you." Remus said, not sure exactly where his cheek was coming from. He had to tilt his head back rather far to look up at Jonah Henson, and he was an intimidating guy.

"Yes, because they have been doing so well on their own." Another Slytherin said, sliding up next to Henson. They all started laughing again. Remus saw Albert and Luke grip their wands and their hands were shaking with anger. "They were getting their arses' whooped."

"Well, when you have two people, 3 or 4 years your junior and out numbered 2:5, that usually happens." Sirius said pulling out his own wand. "Now are you going to leave them alone, or are we going to have to make you?"

"Make us? What do you make of this Lestrange?" Henson asked the forth year on his right.

"I think that we are going to have to teach this little group a lesson."

"Really?" Carlee asked raising her eyebrows. "You are going to attack a bunch of first years?"

"You asked for it." Lestrange said simply.

"Leave them out of this." Albert said pushing his way in front of the Slytherins. "They've got nothing to do with this."

"Yeah." Luke said from behind Henson and Lestrange.

"They made it there problem." Lestrange said smirking.

And suddenly the corridor was filled with light emanating from spells, and shouts of incantations. Carlee was firing out some spell that had a bluish purple light coming off of it and one of the older Slytherins was being very careful to dodge it, eyeing her with a worried glance. James, Sirius, and Remus were using the only three spells they knew, Expelliarmous, the Jelly-leg jinx, and one that made the opponents hair grow really fast. Luke was only slightly better equipped to take on the elder Slytherins. But now that Albert had back up, he was gaining some ground. He was currently firing off a continuous stream of hexes at Henson, who was dodging about wildly and firing his own hexes back at him. Soon one of the five Slytherins was down and nobody could have told you whose wand had made him fall.

This lasted all of ten minutes before Lestrange shouted angrily and all of the Gryffindors, and the two Hufflepuffs lost their wands. Their backs were up against the wall and Henson was actually pinning Sirius and Luke up by the scruff of their cloaks.

"Well, that was easy." Henson said, tossing his head back in an attempt to get his ever growing hair out of his face. Sirius had hit him with a curse while he was dueling Albert. "You guys are more of a menace then a threat. And now, we are going to cripple these Hufflepuffs enough so that even if there were able too, they would be too scared to play in this weeks match. Care to watch?"

"Alec?" Carlee's voice was something of a strangled plea, but whether it was because Lestrange had a handful of her hair, or some other reason was unclear. "Alec, please. Please leave them alone."

"You know this one Baker?" Lestrange asked throwing Carlee at the 7th year boy who had spent the whole fight, watching from the sidelines.

"No." Alec said, glaring at the small blonde through narrowed slights.

"Alec." She sighed angrily. "Fine, how about you Daniel? Are you going to do anything?" She now addressed the boy who had been so vigilantly avoiding her hexes during the fight. He simply laughed.

"Are you going to ask me to save you next?" Henson mocked her.

"I wasn't asking them to save me. I was asking them to do right by Luke and Albert." She huffed. She didn't ask for help, she could take care of herself. Then she sent her elbow flying back, jarring Lestrange in the gut. He dropped his hold on her and she quickly shot a curse at Henson, who fell to the ground laughing manically, and dropping Luke and Sirius in the process.

"Let's go, now." Remus said, pushing Albert forward and grabbing James' arm.

"You can guess whose going to hear about this Carlee." Alec called after her.

"I thought you didn't know me." She said throwing her head up defiantly. "And I can write a letter too. Let's see whose response is louder, shall we."

"I am hardly afraid of our Grandmother." He laughed, though his eyes gave him away. Daniel's mouth twitched as he stood behind his older brother.

"I seriously doubt that." She said and then turned away and walked past Sirius, and his look of shock, without acknowledging it, Henson's laughter followed them all the way down the hall.

They had all gotten a week of detention with. They would have gotten off with only a nights detention, but after they showed up late, none of them would tell Professor Flitwick what had caused them to be nearly twenty minutes late. And then Sirius decided to tell a lie that was so far fetched, James actually smacked him in front of Flitwick and called him an inappropriate name. After all of that, they were fairly lucky that they didn't end up being sent to McGonagall.

By supper time, the whole student body had been told by Albert and Luke what they did and they were heroes among the Hufflepuffs. When ever they walked by, the Hufflepuffs would thank them and cheer. Their own house was pretty pleased with them too. Even Arthur, the prefect, had clapped James on the back when he walked by.

Also, everybody except Remus was giving Peter the cold shoulder for running away. Well, James, Sirius, and Carlee were ignoring him. The rest of the school didn't even know his name, let alone his whereabouts during the ordeal.

That night, while they were serving their first detention, Sirius found himself alone with Carlee while Filch, who Flitwick had handed them off to, had them scrubbing the trophies by hand. James and Remus had been sent to go find more wax and washing cloths.

"You didn't tell me you had brothers here." Sirius said trying to keep his voice steady. It really hurt him that after his big long speech, she still was keeping secrets from him.

"I don't really count Alec and Daniel as brothers." She stopped scrubbing the trophy she was currently working on and gathered her hair up into a bun and tied it with an elastic band.

"Well, are they?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "And I did tell you and James _and_ Remus that I had a lot of brothers."

"You didn't tell me that they went here." Sirius said, still trying to keep his voice level.

"Sorry." She said looking over at him. He refused to meet her eye. "Do you want to know who else I'm related to here?" He nodded and she sighed. "Okay, well not my whole family goes to Hogwarts. We get to choose. Some of them go to other wizarding schools. But here, besides Alec and Daniel, there's Dylan, Emma, and Jane. Those are my siblings. Then my cousins, T.J., Garret, and Adam. All of them are in Slytherin except me, and Dylan is in Ravenclaw. But that's not nearly as bad as being in Gryffindor. He's just a bit to smart for them all. But they over look it. My Uncle and mother I mean." Sirius still didn't say anything. "But in total I have 13 siblings. Some of them have already left Hogwarts, some haven't started yet." Still he wasn't talking. She was rambling now, and rambling wasn't good. People who rambled let things slip that they want to keep private. She bit her tongue for a moment. "I don't know what else you want me to say."

"I don't care what you say." He said bitterly.

"You obviously do." She said pushing a trophy back onto a shelf and pulling another one down.

"No, it's fine. You want to keep things to your self, I get it."

"Sirius." She stomped her foot. "I'm sorry alright. But you saw how they acted when I even talked to them. They don't want people to know that we're related. _I _don't want people to know that we're related. You didn't tell me that Bellatrix and Narcissa were your cousins. And I am not mad at you."

"You already knew they were my cousins."

"You have no right to be angry."

"Whatever." They both huffed and turned their backs towards the other. They stewed in silence for a few moments and then Remus and James walked in laughing.

"I can't believe you go Peeves to do that for us." Remus laughed, his cheeks were flushed and they looked as though they had just been running.

"I know, even I thought it was a bit of a stretch." James laughed.

Instead of asking what happened, Sirius and Carlee stayed silent and didn't even appear to have noticed the entrance of their two companions.

"Don't both ask at once." James laughed. When he was met with silence, he frowned. "What, why are we getting the cold shoulder now? We wanted to take a detour to the kitchen to get snacks, but Filch caught up to us. That's why we're late."

"What happened?" Remus said, quickly reading the looks on his friends' faces and taking into account their body language. Again neither of them talked. "Guys, come on."

"Nothing happened." Carlee said grabbing another trophy off the shelf. "Now let's just hurry up and finish this so we don't have to be here all night."

"Sirius?" Remus asked. He was quite for a moment, then he put his trophy back up on the shelf and turned to face the.

"You know, she has five siblings here at the school, and three cousins." He said and then turned back towards the shelf and picked up a trophy. "And it's not as though it's never came up either. We have been talking about the Slytherin Quidditch team all week, and she has failed to mention every time, that her brother is _captain_ of the team."

"Alec is your _brother_?" James asked in disgust. "You poor thing." He clicked his tongue, half sympathetically and half jokingly.

"Carlee, why didn't you tell us?" Remus asked. "We're best friends." He said dutifully repeating Sirius' words. "You know that, right."

"Oh come off it Remus." She snapped. "Of course I know that we're all best friends, but that doesn't mean that I have to tell you everything. We all have our own secrets." She gave him a rather meaningful look that caused him to avert his eyes. She knows, he thought, she knows that I'm hiding something.

"Well, we are not leaving this room until you to have made up. The whole school is in love with us and we are not going to spend one moment of our fifteen minutes of fame bickering with each other." James said putting his hands on his hips. Carlee and Sirius both gave him a look of pure annoyance before Carlee sighed and turned around to face Sirius.

"I am sorry that I don't tell you stuff that you think I should. I am not used to talking to anyone but Ella. In the future, I will try and make an effort." Sirius smiled.

"That's all that I ask of you."

"And I am going to ask you to act like less of a girl." Carlee said and the hugged him. Sirius ignored James' face and silent shrieks and hugged her back.

"Now that we're all friends again, let's finish." Remus said.

Carlee situated herself next to Remus and Sirius and James were on the other side of the room getting more wax on each other then on the trophies and plaques.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"About what?" He asked looking very interested at the speck of grim that wasn't coming off an order of Merlin.

"About what I said. Whatever you were gone for is none of my business. I shouldn't have insinuated anything."

"I told you that my mother is ill and I had to go home." Remus said glancing over at her quickly and then back at the plaque. He read some where once that in order to make a lie convincing, you were supposed to keep eye contact the whole time.

"We both know that that's not true." She said smiling. He looked over at her frantically. "But," she said quickly, seeing the look on his face. "I also said that it was none of my business. And none of James and Sirius' either." He calmed down a bit at this. "Which reminds me, I should probably write to my brother soon."

"How does this remind you of your brother?" He asked looking at her as though she had sprouted a third arm.

"Never you mind." Carlee smirked poking his nose and leaving behind a glop of wax.

A few hours later, as they were leaving, they were all covered in wax and laughing. Not a care in the world as the waning moon rose, and not bothering to stay quiet as they marched through the castle.

But as soon as they turned out the lights after quietly crawling into bed, Remus lay awake and mulled over what Carlee could have possibly meant. She was telling him that she wasn't going to help James and Sirius figure out where he went every month. She knew something, but she wasn't saying what. And what had she meant that their conversation had reminded her of her brother? He was confused, but as long as she was promising not to tell anyone, he decided that he didn't need to worry about it and let himself fall asleep. It had been a long week, and if he was right, they were going to have an even longer second half of the week.

**AN: Hey, hoped you enjoyed, and I hope that I didn't lose you there. Carlee obviously comes from a very large family. They aren't very important characters except Ella and Christian. So even though I have her whole family tree drawn up, they aren't going to come up much. I will probably have some of them become death eaters later on, but whatever. Reviews are awesome. **

**~Craz**

**OH! And please tell me if you want me to put in the next Quidditch game, if not I am not going to write it seeing as how it is not very important to the plot. If you want it, tell me and I will be more then willing to write it. Also, go ahead and tell me who you think should win. I am not sure yet. **


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Haven't had Lily star in any of these chapter things in a while, so I think that I am going to start with that and maybe throw in some Quidditch and hopefully you guys don't mind me skimpily summarizing the chapter up here before you even read it. But by now I think that you know what to expect up here so you don't read it if you don't want too. That made very little sense, okay anyway… The story... Right... Here you go.**

** Chapter Twenty-Three: Sisters are awful**

The girl's dormitory was usually a quiet place, opposite to what Lily correctly assumed was the boy's dormitory, but tonight was different. Tonight, she had no doubt that they were indeed, louder then the boys.

Lily found a radio in one of the closets and they found a station that played pop music for young witches and wizards and they now had it blaring and they were jumping from one bed to the next, playing some adapted game of musical chairs. So far Yvette and Mary were out and sitting in the middle of the room on the circular rug that sported a intricate design of a lion, a flame, and for some reason that none of them could fathom, a phoenix. At the moment, the rug was the 'out' circle.

Ella, who always seemed to be laid back no matter what her surroundings was blindfolded and in charge of when to turn off the music and force her dorm mates to scramble up onto a bed. She would giggle when ever she peeked to see who got out, but that was as loud as she got.

"What is going on in here?" Carlee asked opening her door and finding Coral and Savannah fighting each other on Carlee's bed. She took in her blind folded sister, the two girls in the middle, and then everybody else on the wrong person's bed and started laughing.

"We're playing musical beds." Ella said smiling. "How was detention?" Carlee smirked.

"Well, I don't think that I had as much fun as you all did."

"Now maybe you'll stop hanging out with those boys so much and instead, with us. We don't get into nearly as much trouble." Lily said. Carlee shook her head.

"I don't think so Lily. I love you lot, you know I do, but they've won me over." She patted her heart and smiled as though she was truly infatuated.

"Whatever, do you want us to start over so you can join us? We've only just started this round." Mary said helping Yvette to her feet.

"Sure, just let me put my night things on."

While Carlee was gone, the other girls got set up around the beds. Coral was chewing on a peppermint stick and cocked her head to the side. "You know, I am starting to think that maybe she does have a crush on one of those boys. But I am not entirely sure which one it is."

"Oh no you don't!" Ella said glaring playfully around at all of them. "Carlee would murder you all if she knew that you were talking like this."

"Come on Ella, she must have told you. Which one is it?" Savannah pushed.

"You do know that I didn't close the bathroom door all the way, right?" Carlee said walking out and tossing her dirty school robes into a pile for the house elves to wash.

"So, you heard our question then." Yvette said smirking. "Are you going to give us an answer?"

"I already told you, I like all of them." Carlee winked. "Now let's get this game rolling, I am so going to beat you all."

After Carlee had won the next two rounds, Lily finally accused Ella and Carlee of cheating.

"I had my eyes covered the whole time, how could I have cheated?" Ella said throwing her hands in the air. Carlee was just smiling.

"She thinks that because we're twins, we have kind of freaking connection with our brain."

"Lily." Ella said in mock horror. "I am offended that you think there is even the slightest connection between my brain and my sister's here!" Carlee's smile couldn't have fell off her face faster.

"Oh, well now you've asked for it." Carlee said knocking her sister over on to a nearby bed and sitting on her stomach. The girls were all laughing and yelling 'fight' as a joke. Carlee was tickling Ella's feet and Ella was screaming peals of laugher.

"I give!" She finally yelled. "I give! You are the world's greatest sister ever!"

"And…" Carlee said smiling, obviously pleased with her victory.

"And you are smarter and better looking then me." Ella said rolling her eyes. Carlee nodded are jumped up off of her sister.

"That's more like it."

"You guys are so strange." Lily said shaking her head. In all honestly, this was making her miss her own sister. They used to be close, and stay up late laughing all the time. But now, Petunia wouldn't even talk to her. When she had been dropped off at platform 9 and 3/4, her sister had called her a 'freak' and then ran away from her, not even saying goodbye. She sighed and sat down next to her giggling friends.

"Sev, I just miss her, okay." Lily said as she signed her 5 page letter and added a bunch of X's at the bottom.

"That's still a bit long if you ask me. Especially for someone who hasn't returned your last 7 letters." Severus said looking down at Lily, as she sat hunched over

"11."

"11, what?" He asked raising his eye brow.

"I have written her 11 letters." She said refusing to look up at him.

"And she hasn't written back to any of them?" His voice was rising. He absolutely detested Petunia. How could she ignore her little sister like that, his best friend?

"Well, I expect she's busy." Lily said standing up and folding her finished letter in half.

"You expect she's busy?"

"Yes."

"Fine, be stubborn." He sighed. "Let's go send it."

"Thank you." She smiled.

Saturday could have come a lot faster for James. It seemed as though they had spent months waiting for the game, and it was really only a few days. The Hufflepuffs were grateful that they were finally getting to play the game and that they still had all of their players intact and out of the hospital wing.

The gang was still considered to be hero's with all of the Hufflepuffs seeing as how Luke and Albert had continued to spread the story around the grounds. Even some of the teachers had heard the truth about what had happened, but no one had confronted the Gryffindors. Though McGonagall did end up giving Alec, Jonah, Jason, Rodolpus, and Daniel two weeks of detention, just for talking during one of her lessons.

When James had finally dragged his friends down to the Quidditch pitch, it was fairly full and they found it nearly impossible to get to the front.

"I told you guys to eat faster." James huffed.

"You know, you get mean when it comes to Quidditch." Carlee said, and then she tapped a Hufflepuff on the shoulder. "Excuse me Hestia, can we slid in?"

"Oh sure, you're short enough so I can see over you." She smiled and stepped aside.

"Did you forget about our celebrity status?" She whispered to James who was now smiling inanely.

"Almost." He laughed.

Since they were so late, they didn't have to wait long for the game to begin.

"HELLO STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS!" Rodger's voice boomed through out the stadium.

"AND STAFF AS WELL." Came another voice very similar to the first.

"YES, WE CAN'T FORGET THEM. SEEING AS HOW MY BROTHER ISN'T PLAYING TODAY, HE DECIDED TO JOIN ME IN THE BOX HERE. EVERYONE SAY HELLO!" The crowd humored him and shouted 'hello.' "AND HERE COMES MADAM HOOCH WITH THE QUAFFLE. WHAT EXCATLY IS SHE SAYING JO?"

"SHE IS SAYING, 'NOW I WANT A NICE CLEAN GAME, FROM ALL OF YOU!' AND PROBABLY LOOKING AT THE SLYTHERIN CAPTIN, ALEC BAKER, WHILE SHE IS SAYING IT. BUT THAT'S JUST A GUESS."

"SOUNDS PRETTY PRECICE TO ME. ANYWAY, THERE'S THE WHISTLE AND THE QUAFFLE IS IN THE AIR!"

"BAKER HAS THE QUAFFLE AND IT FLYING TOWARDS THE HUFFLEPUFF KEEPER, THAT'S BETH BODE. SHE'S VERY GOOD AS WE SAW IN THE LAST GAME SHE PLAYED, BUT BAKER HAS BEEN KNOW TO MAKE SOME GOOD SHOTS TOO."

"YEP." Rodger laughed into the microphone and James saw him shake his head. "ANYWAY, BAKER PASSES IT TO HIS LITTLE BROTHER DANIEL WHO PASSES IT BACK, NOW JASON HAYWARD HAS IT AND HE SHOOTS- AND BETH CAUGHT IT! NO DICE FOR SLYTHERIN. MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE SPENT THE WEEK PRACTICING INSTEAD OF HARASSING THE OPPOSING TEAM."

"MIGHT HAVE WORKED WELL FOR THEM. BETH BODE TOSSED IT TO LITTLE ALBERT. THIS IS ONLY HIS SECOND GAME, HE WAS A LITTLE NERVOUS LAST GAME, LET'S SEE WHAT HE CAN DO TODAY. HE THROWS IT TO MASO VANCE WHO PASSES IT BACK, AND OOOO! BUXLY GET SLAMED WITH A BLUDGER BY GOYAL. THE SLYTHERINS NEW BEATER. THAT'S GOING TO HURT TOMORROW." Josiah sighed and Rodger laughed again.

"I AM PRETTY SURE IT HURTS RIGHT NOW ACTUALLY. ANYWAY, DANIEL HAS THE QUAFFLE AGAIN AND HE THROWS IT- AND SCORES. SHOOT. ANYWAY, THAT'S 10 POINTS SLYTHERIN AND 0 POINTS HUFFLEPUFF."

Thirty minutes later, Slytherin was beating Hufflepuff 90 to 30. Damin Webber and Lucius Malfoy, the seekers, were circling around the pitch, trying to find the tiny gold ball. Damin looked much more determined, seeing as how they were down and really wanted to win. The Slytherins had harassed them brutally this week, and the Hufflepuff team was determined to wipe the floor with them.

James shrieked suddenly. Throwing his hand in the air and started jumping up and down. Sirius and Carlee took one look at him and started laughing. "No, look!" James shouted.

"It's the snitch!" Remus said putting his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun. The crowd around them started going crazy and jumping up and down; the stands were shaking from all the movement. Webber caught sight of the excited crowd and whipped around, knowing that they had spotted the snitch. Alec Baker scored another goal, and the Slytherin seeker was to preoccupied to notice what Damin was doing. James and Sirius screamed and thrust their fists in the air when Webber spotted the tiny fluttering ball and started zooming after it. Malfoy eventually noticed and while receiving a verbal thrashing from Alec, he tried desperately hard to catch up with Webber. Daniel and Alec scored two more times making the score 120- to thirty. Webbers hand was hovering over the snitch and he was suddenly smacked in the side of the head with a bludger. He started spiraling downward towards the ground, swaying dangerously. Everyone around James gasped and leaned forward. The snitch made a jerky movement to the right and disappeared from their field of vision. Malfoy looked around frantically, but the little gold ball was gone.

"THAT WAS CLOSE!" Rodger sighed. "I WAS SCARD FOR A MOMENT."

"SCARD?" His brother asked, almost figuring out how to commentate correctly. "YOU JUST ABOUT PEED YOURSELF- SORRY MCGONAGALL. ANYWAY, THAT BLUDGER WAS SENT BY JONAH HENSON. THIS GAME WAS REALLY CLOSE TO BEING OVER. NOW BAKER HAS THE QUAFFLE AGAIN AND BODE CAUGHT IT, TOSSES IT TO BUXLY, WHO TOSSES IT TO MASO VANCE, THE CAPTAIN, AND THEN HE SHOOTS, AND IT SAILS RIGHT THROUGH. HUFFELPUFF SCORES! 120 TO 40. THEY CAN STILL WIN THIS."

"WHICH IS JUST A FACT, WE ARE BOTH COMPLETELY UNBIASED." Rodger said turning around and nodding at Professor McGonagall who smirked at them. James laughed, unbiased; everybody knew that only the Slytherins wanted the Slytherins to win.

Almost an hour later, the score was 230 Slytherins and 180 Hufflepuff. They were only behind 6 scores and if they caught the snitch, they would still win, but Alec and Daniel seemed to be making impossible shots and not slowing down much. Plus, Webber was injured and probably flying with a concussion. But he refused to come down and receive medical treatment saying that he would be fine until the end of the game.

Malfoy was sitting in the middle of the arena on his broom about 40 feet in the air, searching the sky and the ground, desperate to not have such a close call next time. But Webber was playing smarter too. He was circling the pitch and suddenly James freaked out again, but this time he only tugged on Sirius' sleeve.

"What?" But Sirius noticed as well and nudged Carlee who shushed him.

Webber was still flying in a circle and had only sped up a little bit, and was getting closer and closer the snitch every second. Soon he was only feet behind it and lurched forward catching the snitch and yelling in victory. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the game was over, but soon the crowd around James was exploding.

Carlee screamed as she watched Webber pump his fist in the air and then sway back and forth and fall off his broom. He dropped almost twenty feet before he hit the ground and lay there unmoving. Some members of the Slytherin team started laughing, but Maso Vance, the Hufflepuff captain pointed at the score board and soon they were sulking. As they all left the pitch, James saw, and heard a bit of the Slytherin team bashing on Malfoy.

"I would hate to be him." Sirius laughed slinging and arm around James and Remus.

"I would hate to be any of them." James smirked throwing his arm around Sirius and Carlee.

"True that!" Carlee laughed. "Hey, watch this. Alec!" She called, waving at her older brother. "Good game, you scored some really good goals." She sounded sincere, though James knew better.

"Sod off." He said flicking her off and turning around to thwack Malfoy on the arm.

"That never gets old." She laughed.

Back in the common room, they slipped up stairs to change and then headed out for their afternoon detention.

"At least we only have what, three more?" Remus laughed as James sighed when Filch told them that they were going to be cleaning the girl's lavatory.

"I don't want to go into the girl's loo." Sirius said stomping his feet and stopping just short of the door.

"I while force you to go in one way or another. Now come on." Carlee said pushing him with her shoulder. He didn't move. "Sirius, come on!"

"What if somebody sees me?"

"No one is going to see you." Carlee assured him.

"And why not." James asked motioning for Remus to hold the door opened and grabbing one of Sirius' arms. Carlee grabbed the other and the both dragged him in and then Remus shut the door behind him.

"Because, we are on the second floor." They all stared at her blankly. "No one ever comes in here." She said as though it were obvious.

"Why not? It's right next to the Great hall and fairly close to the Library." Remus said.

"Yes, but this is Moaning Mertal's bathroom." Carlee said smiling. "So we don't really have to clean anything either, like I said, no one ever uses this bathroom."

"Who is moaning Mertal?" Carlee just shook her head.

"I am!" A voice shouted and all three boys jumped and turned around to see a ghost that appeared to have died when it was only a few years older then them. She had pig tales and round glasses, and was a bit unattractive.

"Oh!" Remus said quickly. "Well it is very nice to meet you."

"NO! It isn't. Don't you lie to me." She then turned to face Carlee. "What are these _boys_ doing in _my _bathroom Carlee?"

"They are my friends. We got a detention and Filch is making us clean your bathroom."

"Oh." She pursed her lips and looked around at them. "I will be in my toilet then. See you later. Good bye."

"See ya. Bye Mertal." Carlee waved. And then the ghost was gone. The boys turned to look at their only female friend.

"You have a strange choice in companionship." James laughed.

"I know." Carlee smirked. "I mean look who I am with right now. Boys who like to hang around the girl's bathroom."

"That's it!" Sirius yelled. "I am leaving." Then he turned around and marched out of the bathroom.

**AN: A bit shorter then normal, but whatever. I wanted to post something today, and this is what I have. Do you know how long it takes to watch all of the Harry Potter movies in a row? About 20 hours. I just did that. It was awesome. Hope you enjoyed. Please Review! **


	24. Chapter 24

**An: Are you guys ready for a curve ball? Because that's what this chapter is. One big curve ball. Hope you like it. Not going to tell you any more than that. Tehe! :D**

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><p><strong> Chapter Twenty-Four: Chocolate bars, Hot Chocolate, and Little Elves.<strong>

The rest of November slid by rather uneventfully. And soon it was December 7th and Remus was trying to come up with another plan to sneak out of his friend's sight without drawing any attention to him.

He tried very hard to keep up with Sirius, James, and Peter that morning when they were all walking down to breakfast, and he then tried to eat, but then decided that as long as he sat there and pretended to eat, they probably wouldn't notice. And that way he wouldn't become nauseas.

"Where is Carlee?" James asked searching her other group of friends and then the length of the table.

"I don't know. She's late sometimes, give her a break." Sirius said with his head hung over into his cereal bowl.

James was about to say something when Carlee came jogging into the great hall. She walked over to her sister, who was to far from them this morning for any of them to catch what they were saying, but Remus saw her hand her sister a letter, wait for her to sign it, and then she jogged back out of the great hall.

"Didn't this happen once already?" Peter asked watching her retreating figure.

"You know what, it did happen last month." Sirius said scratching his head. "She is one weird person."

"We already knew that." James snickered.

Carlee came back into the hall shortly after and finished her breakfast with the boys. When James' owl came and dropped the morning post in front of him, he looked at the front cover and tossed it aside. Carlee sighed, reached a crossed the table and picked it up.

"I find it hard to believe that nothing has happened yet. I mean after last months attack, you would think that there would be more." She said fingering through the whole paper, when nothing caught her eye, she folded it back up and placed it next to James. "I mean, I am glad that nothing it happening, but it's making me nervous."

"Did you hear anything about your dad?" Sirius asked without thinking.

"What?" Carlee asked cocking her head to the side and squinting at him.

"Your dad, did you hear anything about him."

"Sure, he sent me a letter last week. Why?" Carlee asked, still rather confused.

"I thought he was missing." Sirius said, now he was confused to. As were the others, because Sirius had, until now, refrained from telling them about Carlee's dad.

"Missing- Oh." Carlee blinked rapidly and her cheeks flushed. "Well, yeah, turns out he wasn't missing…" She mumbled something incoherent and then stuffed her mouth with a banana pancake.

"I missed that, how can some one turn out to not be missing?" Sirius asked looking at her strangely. "You said that you were upset that one day, because your brother told you that your dad was missing."

"weh, e wafhent miffin." Carlee said, using her stuffed mouth as a shield. Sirius, who talked like this all the time, had not trouble understanding her.

"What do you mean he wasn't missing?" She swallowed. Remus could see it in her eyes that she had come up with a lie, he hoped for her sake that Sirius didn't catch on.

"I mean, he just left for a while and it looked fishy. But he came back and he said that he needed to just get away for a while. No big deal." She pushed her hair back and then picked up her pancake. "He's got a really stressful job. The American Ministry of Magic is having some trouble with vampires; he just wanted to disappear for a while."

"Oh." Sirius said quietly.

"I heard about that." Remus said nodding solemnly. He couldn't believe his own nerve. He was blatantly lying for her, and he had no idea why. Other then the fact that he knew that she had a secret, and that she didn't want them to figure out. He knew what that was like. He knew what it was like to have to lie about things to keep his secret hidden. But he couldn't imagine Carlee's secret being anything like his, but still. If she didn't want to talk about it, she had the right to privacy. He could respect that. "What, was it 19 people who died in Helena last month.

"23." Carlee said nodding. "But it's back under control now." She smiled at him appreciatively but quickly turned her attention back to Sirius.

"That's good." Sirius said nodding.

"Yeah." Carlee said pushing her plate away and standing up. "We should probably get to Transfiguration. Let's go." They all stood up and started walking towards McGonagall's class. James and Sirius were walking up ahead with Peter, talking about some such thing and Carlee had fallen back so that she was walking along side of Remus.

"Here." She said quietly holding out a closed fist. "This always helps me when I am feeling ill." Remus looked up at her alarmed, but she shook her head. "Really, I did notice you not touching anything on your plate this morning. I know that James, Sirius, and Peter are all thick, but I'm not."

"Their not thick." Remus said sticking up for his friends, even though he knew that she was only joking.

"Just take this." She said still holding her hand out. Remus held out his hand and she dropped a few squares of chocolate onto his upturned palm.

"It makes everything better." She said whipping the melted bits off her hand.

"Thanks, but I don't really think that it's going to help." He said smiling at her. "I just don't feel well today."

"I know." Carlee said smiling. "But it does help, at least now." She added as an after thought. Remus stopped in his tracks and stared at her. She didn't stop walking, but slowed down a little bit more.

She had to know, how could she? Remus' head started spinning even faster then it already was. It had only been a few months. She had only been friends with them for two transformations; he hadn't said or done anything that was suspicious. How had she figured it out?

He started walking again and rushed a bit to catch up with her. He could feel the chocolate melting in his sweaty hand so he slipped one of the squares into his mouth and instantly felt a calming, soothing, warmth spread throughout his body.

That's when it started to click.

"You were writing to your brother again this morning weren't you?" Remus asked looking at Carlee, who was still smiling.

"Yep." She said looking forward.

"Did _he_ tell you that chocolate works?"

"Yep."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want you to freak out."

"And why would I have freaked out?"

"Wait, did you want me to tell you that I knew about you, or that my brother…"

"Either or would have been nice."

"Well, you would have freaked if I told you that I knew, and it's not my secret to tell, it's Chris'."

"This is crazy." Remus said putting another piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Yeah, the chocolate isn't going to work all day. It will only give you a few extra hours."

"I figured." He was smiling in spite of himself. "Carlee?"

"Yeah?"  
>"Thank you."<p>

"No problem." She said snaking her arm through his.

Thanks to a devious plan to turn all of the portrait on the forth floor upside down, made by Carlee, Remus was able to opt out of the scheme and slip into the hospital wing unnoticed shortly after lunch. He was so excited that the chocolate was making him feel better that he almost decided that he should stay for the next lesson as well, but Carlee finally talked him into going now, when he had the chance.

"Why hello there dear. I was expecting you this morning." Madam Pomfry said smiling at him.

"Hello ma'am. I didn't need to come in this morning." He still hadn't stopped smiling since Carlee had told him about her brother and the chocolate.

"You don't appear to need to be here now. The full moon is tonight, right?" She said looking over at her calendar, then back at him.

"Chocolate does wonders." Remus said holding up a half eaten bar that he had promised to replace when he accepted it from Carlee.

"That's wonderful. A little surprising, but wonderful none the less. Well, let's get you settled, shall we?"

"Yes ma'am."

It finally hit him about an hour after he had climbed into his bed. Not only had his chocolate high started to wear off, no matter how much more chocolate he ate, but he also realized that Carlee knew what he was.

She knew that he was a werewolf and she had spent all day helping him. It took him a long time to swallow that. She hadn't flinched away, she hadn't screamed and ran. She had given him her chocolate to make him feel better and then helped him sneak away.

Maybe this meant that he could tell James, Sirius, and Peter. If she could remain his friend knowing the truth, then maybe they could too-

But no. She was used to being around a werewolf, her brother had been bitten. She was only tolerant of him because of her brother. If she had just figured it out and her brother hadn't been a werewolf, then she wouldn't still be his friend. He couldn't tell James, Sirius, and Peter. He would be happy that Carlee knew and still accepted him and leave it at that.

And then there was the fact that Carlee's brother was a werewolf. There was so many questions that he wanted to ask her, to ask him even. When did he get bit? Why didn't he come to school? Did it hurt as much for him? How did he get treated? Were there other tricks like the chocolate?

But soon the pain was too much to bare and he had to call in Madam Pomfry to get him a pain potion and then he quickly fell asleep. He dreamt of the stranger boy that he had never met. He had blue eyes like Carlee that had been darkened by this time of day because of the wolf. His blond hair stuck to his face because of the fever and he was smiling at Remus. They were just sitting next to each other in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfry ran around them, giving them chocolate and other sweets. When he woke up, he found that he was horribly disappointed to be alone.

"But Professor, I said I was sorry." James said looking up at McGonagall.

"James you just got out of detention, did you not? Why can't you just behave?"

"Because, that's really no fun at all." Sirius said smiling. McGonagall frowned.

"If you two are going to be smart with me, I will write home to your parents."

"What?" Carlee asked, as though the mere suggestion was completely repulsive.

"You heard me Miss. Baker. Unless you three want a letter sent home, I suggest you straighten up." McGonagall looked at each of the three faces, James could tell that she was satisfied that her threat seemed to have worked on all three of them.

"Wait," Carlee said holding up her hand. James wanted to yell at her to be quiet. If he got into trouble at home now, his mom might take away his Quidditch tickets. "The first time you said that you were going to write home to just James' and Sirius' parents, why did I get dragged into that?"

"Were you not also flipping the paintings upside down?"

"Well, yes, but… I _wasn't_ being cheeky."

"Miss. Baker." McGonagall said warningly. "I mean it. The next time you step out of line, I will write home to your parents."

"Which one?" She said.

"Excuse me?"

"My mom or my dad?"

"Both Miss. Baker."

"That's sucks." She sighed. McGonagall sighed as well.

"Yes well, I want you three to put the paintings back in order and then go down to lunch please."

"Yes ma'am." They all said simultaneously. Then their head of house walked away.

They went about flipping the portraits the right way, the subjects insulting them as they went.

Down at dinner, the boys noticed that Remus was no where to be seen. James and Sirius checked the whole table and then looked over to make sure all the Slytherins were at their table before they figured that he probably had to go home and visit his mother again.

"I hope his mother gets better soon." Peter said to the table. "I don't really like it when he is not here."

"None of us do." Sirius said rolling his eyes. His patients for Peter had left with Remus. Carlee decided that a distraction was in order and turned to James.

"So, when is the Quidditch game?"

"In 14 glorious days." James sighed dreamily. "In 14 days, I will be sitting in one of the best seats in the place, eating chocolate frogs and watching the Tornados beat the Hornets. I can't wait."

"You know what I can't wait for?" Sirius said winking at Carlee. "I can't wait for the Hornets to win." James' jaw almost hit the ground.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked quietly.

"No, I want them to win to. The Tornados can barely call themselves a professional team." Carlee said with a straight face. James stood up and shook his head.

"I can't be friends with you guys any more. I-" He looked between the two of them. "I need new friends." And with that he walked down the table and sat down next to Frank and Ian.

Carlee and Sirius looked at each other and Peter whimpered. "Look at what you guys did. Now Remus is gone and you ran James off." He looked frightened to be alone with Carlee and Sirius and his leg twitched as if he were going to get up and follow James.

Then James, Carlee, and Sirius started laughing. James got up and walked back over to his friends clutching his side. "I almost had you." He said between laughter.

"Almost had us?" Carlee shoved James. And soon, Remus' absents was almost forgotten.

When they parted later that night in the common room Carlee thought that she had better bring up his absence one more time.

"Just remember. I really don't think that Remus wants the others to know that his mother's ill. So don't tell everyone that he's gone, and if they notice, don't tell them that you know anything."

"Yeah, we know. Keep his secrets secret." Sirius nodded and then grabbed James' arm, pulling him towards the boy's stairs. "See you in the morning Carlee."

"Good night." She waved and then turned to the right to go up to her room.

"Night!" James and Peter called after her. "I don't think we should go to bed just yet." James said as soon as he heard the girls dorm room door slam.

"You want to do something with_out_ Carlee?" Peter asked in shock. He was always left behind or forgotten, but Carlee?

"Well, yeah. If this doesn't work, I don't really want her to be there to tease me for it."

"Remus isn't here either though." Peter said quieter still.

"He would make fun too. You two better not, but I am fairly sure that I can beat both of you up anyway." James said smugly.

"You don't think that you can take Carlee?" Sirius laughed.

"I wouldn't hit a girl!" James said looking affronted. "With my hand or a hex."

"I still think that deep down, you know she could take you." Sirius laughed. "Okay, where are we going?"

"To that kitchens." James said rubbing his hands together.

"Okay, you guys are the ones that got mad at me for dragging you down there." Sirius said looking confused. "Now you want to go _back_?"

"Yes. I wrote home to my dad and he told me how to get in. Though, he could be pulling my leg so I don't really want everyone to be there."

"Alright, let's go." Sirius said. "Remus and I had come up with a few things to try anyway, so if yours doesn't work, I'll try some of them."

"Kay. But we aren't hanging around down there till three in the morning like last time." James warned.

"It was only two in the morning."

"It would have been later, except Filch almost caught us."

"We were leaving when he showed up!"

"Where do you three think that you're going?" Kara Wise said blocking there path out of the common room.

"Umm… Peter left his bag in the great hall. We were going to run down and get it." James lied almost perfectly.

"He is holding his bag Potter."

"His other bag Wise." James said not letting this set back slip him up. "That's his bag for the second half of the day, he left his first half the day bag down stairs." Kara's eyebrows shot up and she looked at Peter for confirmation of this odd quirk.

"Don't judge him." Sirius said. "So he's a little odd. Who cares?"

"Fine, but if you guys are caught out after hours, I am going to double you punishment and make sure that you have a prefect escorting you everywhere from now until you leave this school."

"How are you going to do that?" Sirius asked. "You are leaving the school after this year."

"I will find a way." She said, and then she walked away, leaving behind the scent of old books and new ink.

"Well, let's go." James said ushering them out the port hole.

"What is it with people and threatening us today?" Sirius asked as they were coming to the fifth floor.

"I don't know. I try not to dwell on the negative." James shrugged. "But if McGonagall really is going to write home, then I can kiss my Quidditch tickets good-bye." Then he looked over at Sirius. "Do you think that maybe this could be the last thing we do until after Christmas?" Sirius nodded without hesitating.

"Christmas at my house would suck worse then usual if she wrote home to my family." Sirius shuddered.

"Kay, well, here we are." James said stopping in front of the fruit picture. He looked over his shoulder and saw Peter and Sirius looking at him expectantly. "And here goes nothing." He said reaching his hand up to the canvas and then he paused over the pear in the middle of the bowl. This was stupid, why was he even trying this? He let his fingers brush against the pear and he heard it start giggling. Then the portrait swung open and revealed a room full of little house elves running around carrying large empty pots, jugs, and some were balancing huge stacks of plates. Others were sitting around pouring over cook books, and others were walking around with rags and cleaner, washing everything down.

"Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed running into the kitchen and twirling around. "I can't believe you did it."

"I can't believe that actually worked." James said looking completely shocked.

"Did you seriously _tickle_ the pear?" Peter asked following James into the kitchen.

"Yep."

"Excuse me, me I help the young misters?" An older house elf asked walking up to them in an apron that bore the Hogwarts crest on the front.

"Yes, we would like some of that cake from dinner and three mugs of hot chocolate." Sirius said plopping down in a small chair by the fireplace against the back wall.

"Right away sir." The little elf said and then bowed. Before James and Peter could even sit down, the little elf came running back to them with their order.

"This is going to be awesome." James sighed accepting his cake and drink and settling back into his chair.

"Completely." Sirius agreed. Peter nodded and they all clinked glasses and cheered in honor of James' dad.

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><p><strong>AN: Hey everyone. Hope that you liked that chapter. I know I did. I think that the rest of their first year is going to go by pretty quick, still haven't decided when James, Sirius, and Peter are going to figure out that Remus is a werewolf. Let me know what you think of this chapter, or whatever. Review please! :D<strong>

**Oh, by the way, longest chapter yet!**

**~Craz**


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Guess what? No, really guess. I bet you can if you look at the title of this chapter. And this is chapter 25, which is awesome. No particular reason or rhyme. Hope you enjoy. **

**Oh and by the way. I am not going to be writing their Christmas'. I am going to skip to January. I have to get to the end so I can start the next year. I mean nothing really happened in this year and its 83,000 words. I have a serious problem. :P**

**The ending is just a bunch of letters to let you know what happened, just clarifying.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Five: Let's meet the Parents, Shall We?<strong>

After a few days of Remus being back, and the boys apologizing to Carlee profusely, she finally agreed to forgive them. They were getting desperate, and it was almost time for them to leave for the holidays. Just 5 more days and they would be taking the train back to London. They would be separated for nearly 3 weeks. And after living with there friends for so long, it seemed a bit daunting. Actually only James and Peter seemed at all excited for the upcoming departure.

"My dad says that we're going to make a whole day of it. We're going out to breakfast in the morning with mum, then we'll go to the game and he says that we could probably go and meet the players afterwards. He's good friends with the captains father and he's asked him to see what he can do." James said still holding his father's latest letter. It was becoming clear to everyone that James' father was just as exited about this game as James was. Sirius wasn't sure weather he should be relieved that James obsession didn't sprout up randomly, or concerned that there was somebody else who loved Quidditch just as much as James.

"You know we are all super excited for you-" Carlee said, before getting rudely interrupted by Sirius.

"But would you shut up already?" He said throwing his hands in the air. "My Mother wrote me this morning and told me that I was expected at home for the holidays and if I even thought about trying to get out of it, I was going to be expelled from this school if she had to come here personally and drag me out by my ears. And believe you me; I would put up one hell of a fight." He was livid by the end of his speech and James was biting his lip. He didn't know what to say when Sirius started talking like that.

"Why wouldn't you be expected to come home? It's Christmas." Peter said clearly shocked that Sirius didn't want to go home.

"Well, my family doesn't really like me." Sirius huffed. "You all heard that letter that I got at the beginning of term. I don't really want to put up with three weeks of that. In person."

Remus was quietly listening. He didn't really want to go home either. They wouldn't be coming back to school until the 3rd of January and that would mean that he would have to transform at home. Now that he had had the experience of transforming at the school, he preferred it very much so to the cellar at his home. He loved his parents and having Christmas with them was always fun, but he was going to spend the entire vacation dreading the full moon more then he normally would.

But it was Carlee who was being uncharacteristically quiet during this whole discussion. Remus seemed to be the first to notice this. She was looking at the ground as she walked and pulling at the ends of her hair.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" He asked her, James and Sirius quickly looked over at her. Where they had learned to give her a wide margin of privacy, that just made them all the more interested when she was going to tell them anything.

"I think that I am staying here." She said snapping a smile on her face so quickly that Remus almost doubted that he had seen her frowning.

"Why?" James asked softly, hoping it was not pushing for too much.

"Well, where it would be nice to see Chris for Christmas, I am just not feeling up to three weeks of… them." She said nodding in the direction of Alec and Daniel, who were sitting on the other side of the courtyard with a group of their Slytherin friends.

"But it's Christmas." Peter said looking completely exasperated.

"That will make it even worse. All the relatives will be coming over. No, I think that I will stay here thank you." She said flipping her hair over her shoulder as Daniel caught sight of her and gave her the finger. "I didn't even do anything, the twat. Anyway, what about you Remus?"

"I don't know. I want to go home, but I sort of want stay here." He answered truthfully. She nodded, but Peter looked beside himself.

"But it's Christmas! You're supposed to be with your family."

"I don't like my family." Sirius muttered still staring Carlee's brothers down.

"Here here!" Carlee said putting her fist in the air.

"Well, I am going home." Peter said once he figured that no one was going to ask him what his plans were. "My cousins are coming in from Whales and my Grandma is going to make chocolate mint pudding, it's my favorite. On Christmas morning, we all wake up as soon as the sun comes up and we take turn opening presents. Only it take's so long because I have a fair few cousins you see-"

"That's real nice Peter, but what am I going to do?" Sirius stood up of the stone ledge he was sitting on and started pacing back and forth. Peter, a bit put out by the interruption, took his seat and began playing with his hands.

"I don't know. Lock yourself in your room for three weeks. That's what I would do." Carlee said.

"I think I would get a bit hungry."

"Don't you have house elves?" James said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but they don't exactly listen to me very well." Sirius muttered. James couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Then tell your parents. They are supposed to listen, it's like house elf law."

"Shut up James." Sirius said kicking a rock. Carlee shot James a look and James shook his head, but didn't say anything more.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you then." Carlee said.

"CARLEE!"

The whole courtyard went quiet and everyone turned to look at the angry blonde who stood at the main entrance to the court yard. Her curly hair was frazzled and pulled back into a half pony, though random strands seemed to be flying out all over the place. Her lips were pressed tightly together and her hands were in fists at her sides.

"Oh shoot." Carlee whimpered. She quickly slid behind Sirius who put his arms out in front of her. Remus and James quickly got on either side of him.

"Move!" Ella shouted pointing at the boys. They quickly jumped out of the way.

"Thanks a ton." Carlee snapped, then looked up at her sister and smiled. "Listen, I was going to talk to you about it, really I was."

"When?" Ella yelled, still on the other side of the courtyard.

"Umm…"

"That's what I thought." Ella said. "You want to stay here for Christmas, all by yourself?" It was more of a statement then a question and Carlee didn't really think it needed answering anyway.

"Good." Alec quipped loud enough for the all the silent students in the courtyard to hear him. "We don't want her at home anyway." Ella and Carlee both turned on him, Ella momentarily forgetting her quarrel with Carlee. Alec took a step back before he even realized what he was doing.

"Don't you dare-" Ella started.

"Are you admitting that you are related to us?" Carlee said looking at her older brother shocked. Alec looked about ready to retract his previous statement, but Ella rounded on Carlee again.

"You listen here Carlee, you are coming home-"

"No I am not!" Carlee shouted. "I don't want to go home," She gestured to Alec. "And he's right, nobody wants me there anyway."

"CARALINA ALYSON-MARIE BAKER! You are coming home for Christmas, do you hear me?" Carlee was staring at her sister with her mouth slightly ajar.

"You did not just use my whole name." Carlee said as though Ella had just physically attacked her. "You promised me that you wouldn't tell anyone my name!"

"Come home, or I will be broadcasting it to the rest of the school."

"It's too late for that, you just shouted it out in front of all these people." Carlee said waving her hands at the crowd.

"You better be packed and ready to go by the time the train gets here." Ella said and with that, she turned around and left.

Needless to say, the next few days were rather tense. Between Carlee and Sirius' moods about having to go home, Remus' dread of having to transform without Madam Pomfry, and Peter's disappointment in everyone being so angry around the holidays, that left only James. And he was finding it rather hard to have one sided conversations all day. So when the train finally did pull up in Hogsmade station, he was relieved.

Thought he started to wish that he was back in school after the first two hours of strained silence. Frank had come by to wish them a merry Christmas and say goodbye, but quickly found an excuse to leave after only a few moment despite James' pleas.

When the train finally pulled into London, James smiled at everyone, wished them a happy Christmas and then almost ran from the compartment, almost forgetting his coat and mittens.

"Yeah, well I am off as well." Peter said, not bothering with pleasantries, and soon he was gone too.

"Happy Christmas, to both of you. I'll try and write." Remus said waving at Carlee and Sirius.

"Me too." Carlee said smiling for his benefit. Then Remus ran of towards his parents, who were standing underneath the large old clock. Sirius and Carlee looked at each other and sighed. Carlee managed another weak smile.

"I guess we should get off the train." Sirius said.

"I guess. I was thinking about hiding under the seats, but Ella would kill me and I don't think the train goes back to Hogwarts until we ride it back in three weeks anyway."

"Probably better then going home."

"There's no food here."

"Touché. But it might still be better." Carlee nodded. They walked off the train slowly, side by side and then as slowly as they could manage, they started walking to the front of the platform. Carlee's mum and dad were the first to spot her and ran up to both of them. Sirius stepped aside, but stayed close. He still hadn't wished her a happy Christmas or said goodbye. And he wanted to meet her parents any how, after knowing her for a term, he was curious.

"Hey pumpkin!" Carlee's dad said reaching out and enveloping her into a hug. She hugged him back and then kissed his cheek smiling.

"Hey daddy." Sirius frowned slightly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was slightly disappointed. He had been thinking this whole time that Carlee was in a similar situation. But there was no denying the fact that Carlee loved her dad, and he loved her.

"Carlee." Her mom said nodding and then she tried to place a hand on Carlee's shoulder, but Carlee moved away towards Sirius, completely ignoring her mother. Comprehension dawned on Sirius' face and he nodded. It was her mother that was the problem.

"This is Sirius. He's one of my friends at school." She said looking at her dad while she spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sirius." Her dad said holding out his hand. Sirius smiled and shook it. "The names Tom. And this is my wife Olivia." Tom had a very friendly demeanor and looked as though you could sit and talk to him for hours and spill all of your secrets. He looked as though he was in his early 50's, with his blond hair slowly graying and residing farther back up his head. His eyes were the same brilliant blue as Carlee's, which instantly made Sirius feel relaxed around him.

"It's nice to meet you too sir." He smiled brightly and then turned to Olivia, who seemed to have suddenly found the sleeve of her jacket very interesting. She was standing with her painted lips pursed and her cold green eyes avoiding the two small children in front of her. Her dark brown hair was falling down to her chest, and it was curly, just like Carlee's. Sirius couldn't help but think that this woman could look very friendly, like her husband, if she would just smile. But she didn't and continued to avoid Sirius' eyes. Carlee sighed and crossed her arms.

"Anyway, Ella should be-"

"Ella was already taken home by Tim and Lucy, as were you other sibling and your cousins." Olivia snapped sharply. "I thank you for taking your time and dawdling."

"You are most welcome." Carlee whispered under her breath.

"Sirius!" Some one shouted from behind Olivia and Tom. They turned around, and Olivia made a squeal of recognition.

"Oh it can't be!" She said walking over to the woman who had called Sirius. Carlee and Sirius exchanged frightened glances. The mere thought that their mothers actually knew each other was completely horrifying to each of them. "Walburga!"

"Oh how wonderful to see you Olivia." The other lady said grabbing Olivia by the shoulders and kissing each of her cheeks. Walburga was older, but extremely pretty. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight knot on the back of her head, which gave her a very elegant air. Her dark bluish eyes were in think slits, making her look as though she was scrutinizing everything that she looked at. Her robes were the finest, most expensive type, with real gold thread spun into the cloth.

"Is that your mother son?" Tom asked Sirius, who looked taken back at being addressed as 'son'.

"Yes sir." Sirius said looking at the floor.

"Ha, how ironic, your mothers seem to be friends themselves. I guess it seems to run in the family, hey?" He nudged his daughter ands took hold of her trunk. I'll go and take this home. You can stay here with them. See you in a few." He kissed the crown of her head and apperated away.

"Luckily, being completely oblivious doesn't run in the family." Carlee said sadly and turning to Sirius she added, "Well, this should please them then. Unless your mother likes to tell people how much of a disappointment you are."

"Not unless it's just a school full of children."

"Then we should get lucky here." Carlee said linking arms with Sirius and holding her breath for a moment before exhaling.

"Oh, there you are!" Walburga exclaimed pulling her son into a hug and out of Carlee's grasp. "This is my eldest son, Sirius Orian Black." Sirius looked shocked by such close proximity, but complied none the less.

"Oh yes, I only just met him. He seems to be friends with my daughter, Caralina Isabella Baker." Carlee shook her head and muttered to herself. Sirius wondering if it was because her mother used her whole first name, or said a different middle name then Ella had used in the courtyard.

"Oh I have heard about her." Walburga said. Olivia seemed to freeze for a moment, but quickly composed herself. "She is your seventh daughter, isn't she?"

"Yes, we have quite the houseful." Olivia chortled.

"I don't know how you do it." Walburga said, her arms still resting on Sirius' shoulder. "I mean, I have only the two, and it's hard."

"Yes, well Tom loves children." She said, only Carlee could hear how her voice grew harder.

"Did you catch the paper this morning?"

"No I am afraid not." Olivia smiled.

"Oh, well, there has been another attack on muggle borns. But that's not what queer. Obviously, I could care less what happens to the mudbloods, but a few pure bloods went missing this time. And not even the blood traitors, some genuinely good pure bloods." Walburga said, emphasizing all the right words to make this piece of news all the more dramatic.

"You don't say." Olivia said putting her hand over her mouth.

"Were there any people murdered?" Carlee asked looking up at Walburga.

"Hush girl, we're talking." Her mother said swatting her over the head. Sirius found it unnerving how much Carlee flinched at her mother's hand.

"Anyway, you know the Lestranges of course," Olivia nodded. "Well, Roland just vanished, into thin air."

"Oh his poor family. And just before the holidays too." Olivia took a step closer to Walburga, pushing Carlee out to the side. "You know, before now, I was supporting the person behind all the previous attacks. Our world could do with a good purification."

"You are so right." Walburga said.

"You should come over to tea later this week. Or maybe the following. I'll send you an owl dear, we shall get together though." Olivia smiled, and then her smile turned into a sneer as she looked down at Sirius. "And maybe he can come too."

"Oh thank you ma'am. I would like that very much." Sirius smiled up at her, not noticing the look of horror on Carlee's face.

"Yes," Walburga said nodding. "I think that is possible. After all, being placed in Gryffindor, I am quite proud that he found such a respectable person to be friends with. I mean, with the riffraff that end up in that house."

"I know, I myself am pleasantly surprised." Olivia nodded. "Well, look for my owl. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." And with that, they kissed each other's cheeks again and took their children home. Carlee and Sirius didn't even get to say good bye, all Carlee was able to manage was a half hearted wave before her and her mother vanished.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Remus,<em>

_I hope that you and your family are well. How un-Carleeish does that sound? :P gross. Okay, anyway, I sort of need some advice. My mother has invited a certain Sirius Black over to my house, and I don't really want him to come. I mean, I love Sirius, I do, but I don't want him at my house. But he is going to be here in like, 42 hours and 28 minutes. I am freaking out here. FREAKING OUT. I don't really know what you are supposed to say to that, but whatever. Chris says hi, he is reading this over my shoulder and now asking my why I don't want one of my best friends over at our house. Then I glared at him, he now understands. _

_Now he is laughing at me for writing down the conversation we are having, but I know that you want to get to know him, so you can do that through me. Actually, I have just told him to go write you a letter, I shall send it with this._

_Again, hoping that you are well,_

_Carlee, your best friend, no matter how much candy Sirius and James might give you. 3_

* * *

><p><em>Hey Remus,<em>

_So, I am Chris, I don't really know you or anything, but I laughed at Carlee, and she told me to write to you. I don't really know if she is going to send this or not, but whatever. I kind of just do what she tells me to, you've met her, she's scary._

_Anyway, the moon thing, that seems like something that we can call it. That's not the only reason why I didn't go to Hogwarts. I mean, it's a big part, seeing as how only a few people even know, and I don't want to tell _anyone_ else, but there's other… stuff._

_Carlee said that what I had was an inadequate way of getting to know you, so I know it is stupid, but here are some questions._

_What is your favorite color? Your favorite animal? Where do you live? Do you like to watch movies, you know, muggle movies? If so, have you seen James Bond? If you haven't, why not? _

_Okay, write back_

_Chris_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Chris,<em>

_I was really glad that you decided to write to me, and I am sorry if the only reason you did was because of Carlee. I have never met anyone my age, that is…well, you know. And I just wanted to get to know you. I don't remember telling Carlee that, but she seems to know everything. _

_As for your question, I like purple, cats, by the sea, yes, yes, and the last question if void._

_I don't know if I am stepping over any lines, but when you, well the moon thing at Hogwarts is a lot easier then at home. Madam Pomfry is amazing, as is Dumbledore, they treat me like I am an actual human._

_I do hope that you change your mind._

_Remus_

* * *

><p><em>Hey Sirius,<em>

_I am sorry that the tea got canceled, I know that you were looking forward to getting out of your house. I don't know if I'll see you till school, but Happy Christmas._

_Carlee_

* * *

><p><em>Carlee,<em>

_Don't worry about it, you mother rescheduled, that's all. I'm coming over in two days. See you soon! _

_Sirius_

* * *

><p><em>James<em>

_You will never guess where I was yesterday! I was at Carlee's house. Turns out that our mother's were friends and they had tea and Carlee's mom said that I could come. Her house is huge! I mean, I thought mine was fairly large, but she live in like a freaking mansion, with more rooms and stuff added on. _

_America was pretty cool too. I mean, there was a lot of farms and muggles. Though her family all dressed like muggles too. Her mom said it was because they had to blend in. I had to wear some of her brother's clothes. _

_She lives on a farm, so there were all sort of cool animals there and stuff._

_Anyway, I just wanted to brag, hope you had fun at the Quidditch match, and I do hope that the Tornados won for your sake. _

_Happy Christmas,_

_Sirius_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you liked, I had fun writing it. This is now the longest Chapter. That's two longest chapters in a row! I am on a roll. Review and tell me what you think.<strong>

**~Craz**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: I am slowly getting ahead of my updates. And for this, I am pretty proud of myself. The last time I was ahead, was when I first started posting the story. But I have finished the last chapter, and now I am working on this chapter and the last chapter isn't due to be up till tomorrow. :D Kay, enjoy this chapter. **

**I realize that what I just wrote is sort of trippy, seeing as how the last chapter is posted already, as is this one…**

** Chapter twenty-Six: More tragedy, Tears, and a new Broom**

Carlee was the last one to enter their compartment, and she had very nearly missed the train. Though she didn't say this. She just told them that she was seeing Ella to her compartment first. None of them questioned this, as Carlee often did needless tasks in order to look after her sister.

"You are aware that she is the same age as you, right?" James ribbed once he had helped Carlee put her trunk up on the rack.

"Yeah, I know." Carlee said sitting down next to Remus and a crossed from Sirius and James. Peter was on the other side of Remus. "She's just to nice to people."

"I think she can fend for herself." Sirius said, thinking back to the courtyard, and that day in potions when Carlee and Ella had stood up to Avery and Henson.

"That's not really the point." Carlee said, and the topic was dropped.

"So, how was your tea at Carlee's?" James asked Sirius, who smiled widely.

"You should all see her house, I mean, it's huge!" Sirius said, reiterating his letter for Remus and Peter's sake. Carlee rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "And there were so many people there. I mean, we already knew that she had 14 siblings, but then she has got all these cousins, and they all live together on the farm." Remus looked over and Carlee who refused to look at him.

"What did you guys do?" Peter asked. Sirius smiled at him, Peter was shocked, but leaned forward, even more interested in what he was saying now.

"Well, she showed me around. First she took me out to the horses; they all have these weird names. Umm… Banana, Peanut, Raisin, and other odd things."

"Those are my horses that you insulting Black." Carlee said sharply.

"Sorry. And her dad was just great!" He said turning towards James. "I mean, I didn't see him at tea, I met him at the train station before I went home. Her Grandma made us cookies too, and I got to help, and like the beater. It was great fun." James laughed at him, and Carlee sighed.

"You'll have to have us all over this summer." James said looking over at Carlee. "If for nothing but meeting a horse named Banana, I want to go."

"Oh that would go over well. 'Mother dearest, I have other friends that would like to come over too, ones a half blood and the other two are considered blood traitors to most of our stature, does Monday work for you?'" Carlee laughed humorlessly, and James looked upset by her word choice, but Carlee shook her head and continued to explain. "Sirius only came over because his mom said that she thought that I was worth enough to be friends with Sirius. My mother didn't want to give her the impression that she didn't think the same of Sirius."

"I still got to get out of my house for a while. I don't care what your mother really thinks of me." Sirius shrugged. "That was the best day of my whole vacation."

"Well, I am glad you had fun." Carlee muttered.

"Did her brothers give you any trouble?" Peter asked.

"With Mrs. Black there?" Carlee laughed again. "Are you kidding, my mother would have murdered them." James fell silent, it was bad enough that Sirius found it necessary to act like this sometimes; he really didn't know what to say when Carlee started. "I'm sorry James." She sighed. "How did your Christmas turn out?"

"It was brilliant." James nodded, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry that you didn't have a good time." Carlee frowned at him. Usually James just needed an invitation and then he could go on for hours, she had been counting on that.

"I am just tired, that's all." Carlee said, and then she let out a yawn. "I haven't been sleeping very well."

"Well here," Sirius said standing up. "Switch places with me, you can lean on the wall that way. Plus, there's more room on this side."

"Thanks." She smiled. He nodded and sat down next to Remus.

"Well, we do have to get together this summer, weather it's at Carlee's house or not." Sirius said. "There is no way that I am going to stay locked up in that flipping house for the whole sodding summer."

"Yeah, I don't want to be stuck at home either." Carlee said. "Whose house is available?"

"Well, my parents would let you all come over, but they are only so accommodating." James said sending a funny look at Carlee.

"What do you mean?" Sirius said, jumping to the conclusion that is was him who James' parents were going to have a problem with.

"I mean, they aren't going to let Carlee stay." He said. "They're real old fashion, and she's a girl. They won't let her stay the weekend or anything."

They all turned to look at Peter and Remus.

"Sorry, my family and I are headed up to Birmingham as soon as school lets out. We won't be back till late August." Peter said then turning to look at Remus.

"My house is a bit small." Remus said looking around at his four friends. "But I think my parents would be up to it. If Peter is going to be in Birmingham all summer, then it will just be the three of you." He tapped his foot while he thought it over. "I mean, my mum might insist that you sleep on the couch or something," He said looking at Carlee. "But, it should be fine."

"Awesome. Now if only summer would come already." James said settling back into his seat.

"Let's not be too hasty, he hasn't even asked yet." Sirius said.

"When is the trolley lady going to come around?" James said looking out the window. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a hippogriff."

James wasn't exactly exaggerating, for when they finally got into Hogwarts and settled down to eat dinner, his eating could have rivaled Sirius'.

"You weren't kidding." Remus chuckled while he picked over a buttered roll and some fresh sweet corn.

"Yeah, wha up wif the 'tite?" Sirius asked with his mouth full.

"I skipped breakfast this morning." James said. "I got a new broom for Christmas and I wanted to have one more go on it before I had to leave it behind. It was totally worth it though."

"You got a new broom, or _the_ new broom." Carlee asked.

"_The_ new broom." James smirked. "It's a Comet 260. Fastest broom there is." He said smiling wistfully. "It's a stupid rule don't you think. Not allowing first years a broom." Sirius nodded, but Remus shrugged.

"I think we get into plenty of trouble without being able to fly around as well." They laughed. And then James nearly started chocking with excitement.

"I can't believe I haven't told you yet." He said looking around and frowning. "Okay, we'll have to wait till we're alone, but this is going to be epic." He said smiling widely.

"That's a nice let down." Carlee said.

"Yeah, why even tell us you have something to tell us if you're going to make us wait?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see." James said knowingly. The others exchanged a looked, shrugged, and then went back to eating.

Before dinner let out, Dumbledore stood up at the owl winged podium and the wings spread, motioning for silence. Everyone quickly complied. Dumbledore looked weaker then any of them had ever seen him before, he looked tired, and old. It was a disturbing take on the headmaster who was usually never seen with out a tin of sweets and a cheerful, rather random word to give.

"I would like to take this time to welcome you all back to Hogwarts. I hope that you found comfort this holiday break. And I wish that I could say that I hoped your holidays went well, but I know that is not the case for some." Dumbledore sighed and leaned forward, resting, for a moment, his head on one of his elegant hands. When he looked up at his students, some of them could see that there was a tear sliding down his face. "I don't mean to disrupt your reunion with your friends, but I am sure that some of you have noticed that there are some empty spots among us." Everyone started mumbling and looking around, others stayed quiet, having already heard, or noticed. "We lost a student." He said solemnly. James quickly wipped his head up and down the table, his eyes resting briefly on Carl and then landing on Lily. She too was looking around her table. Their eyes met for a minute, but Lily quickly looked away. "Adin Mayer, a Ravenclaw second year was murdered three days ago, along with the rest of his family." At this, James noticed the muffle sounds coming from the table behind them. He turned and saw that people at the Ravenclaw table had tears in their eyes.

"Adin was a good student, and a wonderful friend." Dumbledore's eyes hardened. "He didn't deserve this. He was just a child of twelve." His head went into his hand again and McGonagall came up and patted him on the back. "I need you all to understand that you are their greatest weapon. You, the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. We must stand together, for without each other we are weak. Whoever is doing this will try and use you. You need to be strong, stand by your friends, and most importantly, don't be afraid to love. Use your heart, if you never learn to use your heart, you will become weak." He paused and looked around the room, his eyes resting on the green and silver table, where many of the older students had already stopped listening. "Eustace has decided to stay with his family, and Marlene McKinnon will be back soon. If anybody hears anything, I urge you to come forward and confide in myself or another teacher."

Kara Wise raised her hand and Dumbledore motioned for her to speak. "Professor, do you have any idea who is behind these attacks?"

"I have a fairly good idea, but I do not wish to start rumors without proof I find substantial." He said looking over at her. "Now, I would like everyone to go up to their rooms and get a good nights rest, classes will resume tomorrow. Good night." He stepped down from the podium and walked off with McGonagall, who was being followed by Flitwick.

"I can't believe it." Sirius said once they were walking up to the 7th floor.

"I know. I couldn't imagine." Remus said leaning slightly on Carlee for support. The full moon had only been two days ago and he was still a little weak, she complied and didn't say anything.

"What, you can't imagine being dead?" Sirius asked and Carlee scoffed.

"I am sure that's what he meant you git." James said elbowing Sirius.

"The whole thing is pretty unbelievable if you ask me." Carlee said. "I mean, what's going on that nobody knows who is behind any of this. There have been dozens of murders, muggle and wizard, and nobody has lived to have seen anything and apparently nobody has heard anything either."

"Fear tends to keep people quiet." Remus said looking at her. She nodded.

"I know, but when there are this many lives on the line?"

"Not everyone can be as brave as us." James said puffing his chest up. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, some people value their own hide more then everybody else's combined." He said.

"If you knew something," Peter said looking at James and Sirius in awe. "And you were told that if you let it slip to anyone, you would die, you would still tell?"

"If it was going to save a bunch of people." James shrugged. "Besides, just because they say that their going to kill me doesn't mean that they'll succeed."

"But let's say that it was a guarantee. You were going to die if you told anyone." Peter pushed.

"This information that I know, is it for sure going to save somebody?" Sirius asked. Peter nodded. "Then yes. If I didn't, then it would be like I helped with the murder." James nodded in agreement.

"Carlee?" Somebody called out from behind them, they all turned to see Kara sprinting up to them. "I don't remember shouting all of your names." The seventh year said eyeing the boys. James shrugged.

"I need to be here in case you start bullying her. It's not fair for a seventh year to have a go at a firstie if said firstie is alone." James said smirking.

"I am not going to bully her." Kara said rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to ask you if you've seen Lily or Airiana." She said crossing her arms. "I've already got Gideon Prewett checking in with Carl." She said before Sirius could open his mouth.

"I saw Lily at dinner, but Airiana is usually with Delilla and Beonca." Carlee said trying her hardest to ignore both James and Sirius.

"Just how many girls are there in our year?" Sirius asked gaping.

"You're in class with them every day." Kara said sighing.

"Yeah, but still. How many?"

"There are eleven of us." Carlee said. "If you're talking to them because they are muggle borns, you should get Delilla, Savanna, and Mary. They all have a muggle born parent."

"And have somebody talk to Stephen too. His dads a muggle born." Remus added.

"Will do." Kara said. She eyed the boys and then stepped closer to Carlee, not that it would make what she was about to say any more private, seeing as how Remus was still leaning on her and Sirius was standing less then six inches away on her other side. "If _you_ need to talk, you can come to me." Carlee nodded and smiled at the head girl.

"Thank you Kara, but for now, I am fine." Kara nodded and walked away.

"What about us?" James and Sirius called after her.

"Go to Gideon or another male prefect." Kara called over her shoulder, not breaking stride.

"She will talk to you if you really want." Carlee said. "She just didn't want you guys to start making a joke out of her offer."

"We wouldn't have done that." Sirius said. "Well…"

"We will have to behave for a while." James sighed. "I mean, we did tell McGonagall that we now when it is inappropriate to pull a prank and stuff. And I do not fancy myself a liar." He looked around and stood over to the side of the wall. "I still want to show you this though." He waited until Richard Smith and Seth Stein were in the port hole leaving the corridor deserted, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver mesh that he had had balled up in his cloak.

"That's awesome. Truly James, it is." Sirius said laughing.

"No, look." James said, looking up and down the hall once more. Then he threw it over his shoulders and there was a collective gasp as his body disappeared. "It's an invisibility cloak." He said smiling. Then he pulled it over his head and it was as if he was just not there.

"That's a really good one too." Carlee said reaching out and feeling the invisible cloth. "I can't see you at all."

"I know. My mom had me go up to the attic to get some more Christmas decorations and I saw this sitting on one of the old boxes up there so I picked it up and put it on and then I realized what it was." He said smiling.

"Do you normally put on random old cloaks?" Sirius ribbed.

"Haha, keep it up Black and I won't let you use it." James said grinning when Sirius' expression grew sheepish. "I don't want anybody else to find out about is. My dad knows that I have it, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to let my mother know, and since Lily has a propensity for writing home when she feels in necessary, we are definitely going to keep it from her."

"Of course." Carlee laughed. "Okay, let's get in before Kara or somebody comes out looking for us."

"5 galleons says that everybody is gathered in the common room again." Sirius said.

"Not going to bet against that." Peter laughed. James nodded.

"Yeah, we are a very close group of kids." James said. Carlee gave the portrait the password and they entered. Sirius was right, everybody appeared to be in the common room.

Kara wise was sitting in the corner with Lily, Airiana, Delilla, Mary, and Savanna, and other similar groups were scattered throughout the room.

Joyce Camry, one of the chasers on the Quidditch team, was violently passing back and forth. Everybody was making sure not to get in her way. She kept shooting looks over at Kara and the group around her. Savanna was in tears and Kara had her arm around Lily who looked horribly stressed out. "I can't stand this anymore." She said suddenly, spinning around so frenetically that she almost slammed into Carlee, who was quick to take a few steps back.

"Whoa!" Carlee said putting her hands up. "What is it you can't take Joyce?"

"Not doing anything!" Joyce yelled. "I mean, my grandfather is still missing, random muggle borns are being taken god knows where, and now others are being picked off like flies, I don't just want to sit around and watch it happen."

"Well, what can we do?" Dorcas Meadows asked from her chair next to the fire. "I mean, we are just a bunch of kids." Dorcas Meadows was incredibly intelligent fourth year and the last person anybody would even suspect to be a rule breaker. She had top marks in all of her classes and never put so much as a toe out of line. But more importantly, she had been a thorn in Joyce's side since she first corrected her sentence structure when Dorcas was a first year. And now, with the added stress of everything that was happening, Joyce couldn't take it any more.

"NO! You are just a child; I am 17, which means that I am an adult. And there has to be something that I can do." Joyce said rounding on Dorcas and taking a step closer to her with every word. "Just because you're too much of a sodding good girl to stand up for what is right, doesn't mean the rest of us are going to follow in suit." She let out a scream of frustration and stomped her foot. "Just because your are a sodding pure blood and your family is safe doesn't mean that you shouldn't care." Cleo Downing, who had been sitting on the stairs with some of her friends stood up and walked toward Joyce.

"Joyce, you need to calm down, you blowing up at the younger years isn't going to help anyone." Cleo said wrapping an arm around Joyce and leading her to the stairs.

"I know." Joyce said mournfully. "I'm sorry Dorcas. I just don't know what to do."

"It's okay." Dorcas whispered. But something in her eyes had changed. She didn't feel the same way she had a few moments ago when the fight was still somebody else's. Seeing Joyce break down, yet again, made her realize that it wasn't all that far from home. "You're right." She said looking down at her hands and listening to Joyce cry into Cleo's shoulder.

**AN: Hey, quick question. Is it helpful when I make references to who the characters are, like saying that Cleo is a chaser on the Quidditch team, or do you guys have it? I don't want to patronize you, so just let me know. I feel like I made up a lot of characters, and I don't know if you guys are keeping up with all of them. I mean, Adin was made up in this chapter. I try and use a lot of familiar names too, but I can't kill everyone who appears in the stories that Harry is in. Just tell me what you think. **

**~Craz**


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: Still slightly ahead! :D And I was able to skip a whole month ahead, which means 6 months down, 4 to go!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Seven: People Changing and Family Pranks<strong>

The dynamic of the school didn't change as quickly as it had last time, it was the end of February before any of them saw people smiling and joking in the hallways again.

But this didn't mean that everything was back to normal just yet. Dorcas Meadows had taken to locking herself up in the library more then usual studying advanced defensive text books. Joyce Camry started putting just as much effort into her school studies as she did in her Quidditch practice, and she wasn't the only one. Many of the older students in the Gryffindor house had changed some things around. McGonagall's office had been flooded with seventh and sixth years asking if it was too late to change their selected job course so that they could become an auror.

James and Sirius were walking past an old empty classroom when they heard shouting coming from inside.

"What do you think that is?" James asked looking at Sirius with wide eyes.

"I don't know James. How do you find out what something is when the door is closed?" Sirius said rolling his eyes and proceeding to open the door.

Inside they found Dorcas standing with her back towards them with a book cradled in one arm and her wand held up in her other hand. She had it pointed at a paper target on the wall and she was shouting frantically at it, jerking her hand back and forth. "Reducto! Reducto!" She kept shouting over and over again, then she dropped her book to the floor and put her hands over her eyes. James and Sirius only hesitated a moment before running into the room and making their presence known.

"What's the problem Dorcas?" James asked picking up her book and looking at the page she was on. The spell Reducto was listed as a semi-advanced spell in a sixth years text book, James shook his head. "It's no wonder you haven't got it yet. It's more then two years ahead of you."

"No." Dorcas contradicted. "It is nearly the end of my fourth year." She said trying to whip the tears from her face. "I should be able to do it."

"Well, don't beat your self up over it." Sirius laughed. "You'll get it if you practice I am sure."

"Oh just go away. You eleven year olds don't know anything."

"He said you could do it." James said confused. "Why are you really upset?"

"There has been another disappearance." She whispered. "Only one this time, and no murders."

"Do you know the person?" Sirius asked.

"No." Dorcas said a bit more angry then they had expected. "But it's only a matter of time before it is somebody I know. And who says that I can only start caring once it affects me personally."

"You do know that Joyce was just upset last month. She didn't-"

"I know she was upset, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't right!"

"If she knew that you were doing this to yourself, she wouldn't be too happy." Sirius said sternly.

"Sirius Black, you will tell no one what you have seen. Now both of you leave." She said pointing at the door and grabbing the book out of James' hands.

Once out in the hall Sirius smirked and looked at James. "You know, she only said that _I_ couldn't tell anyone."

"No way mate. Do you know what 'reducto' does to a person? Blows them up if it's done properly, and blasts them away other times. I am not getting blown up or blasted away." He laughed. "But if you think that she isn't going to have it perfected by tonight, you can risk it."

March 5st was the day after the full moon. Thanks to some carefully scheduled detention on Carlee's part, the later half of the afternoon, she spent scrubbing the dungeon floors with Sirius and James. Because of this, neither of them noticed that Remus was absent for the later half of the day, but this didn't stop them from finding out he was missing the next morning at breakfast.

"Okay, how sick can his mother really be?" Sirius asked as James, Carlee, Peter, and himself all sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"Sirius!" Carlee said narrowing her eyes at him.

"No really Carlee think about it." He said, not at all bothered by her glare. "I mean, St. Mungo's can fix practically anything. Why doesn't she just go there?"

"Because she is a muggle." Peter shrugged.

"Oh yeah." Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "I'd forgotten."

"Well, his dad isn't. Couldn't he go to the head of the hospital and ask for an exception?" James asked.

"I am sure his dad has done that." Carlee sighed.

"Why would they say no?"

"Hmmm? Let's think about that shall we?" Carlee said pursing her lips and looking up and the ceiling. "What is happening to everybody that is being friendly towards muggles or muggle-borns?"

"You think they would attack a hospital?" James asked raising an eye brow. "Please Carlee, there are always at least 7 aurors there at all times. Probably more since the attacks started happening."

"Yes, because the presence of other wizards has stopped them before." Carlee said, equally as sarcastic.

"What do you think that they are doing?" Sirius asked. "I mean, besides the whole, 'purifying the wizarding race' thing." He said putting in air quotes. "But, they haven't done anything for over a month now. Why?"

"I don't know why you expect us to know the inner workings of some evil groups mind." James laughed. "Just be thankful and hope that it has stopped."

"It hasn't." Carlee sighed. "And you know it."

"Whoa!" Sirius said suddenly. "Why did we get so far off topic? Back to Remus. Where do you think that he really is?"

"At home." James said promptly.

"With his mother." Carlee added. "Why, do you think that he is actually behind all the attacks? That almost fits doesn't it? I mean, he leaves, then something bad happens."

"Shut up Carlee." Sirius sighed. "No, I think that he might not be going home for the reasons that he says he is. Did anyone notice how when he came back last time, he had his left arm all bandaged and a new scar on his face?" Peter and James shook his head, but Carlee just sat and listened. "Come to think of it, why does he have so many scars?"

"I don't know, he's a klutz?" Peter offered.

"In all the time that we've known him, have you ever once seen him fall or stumble?" Sirius asked looking at Peter as though he had suggested that Remus randomly grew a third eye. "Come on Peter, we need real answers." He sat and thought about it for a moment. The others had gone back to eating by the time he spoke again. "Could it all be from panic attacks and sleep walking?" It was Carlee's turn to look at Sirius as though he was crazy.

"What?" She asked.

"Maybe." James said ignoring her question.

"Peter." Carlee said turning to the third boy. "What are they talking about?"

"Well," Peter said blushing. "The first night that we were here, Remus had a panic attack and cut his hands on his trunk." He spoke without looking her in the eye, being unaccustomed to having her speak directly to him.

"What?" She asked, still very confused.

"He started having a panic attack about something silly, and he sliced his hands open." James said trying to explain some more. "Actually, that was the night before he got all sick." James mused.

"Yeah, it was." Sirius said thoughtfully.

"What?" Carlee asked. "You think he had a panic attack because he knew that he was going to get sick the next day?"

"No." James said laughing, but Sirius just shook his head silently, looking at the table thinking.

"Sirius?" Carlee said looking at him as he appeared to be concentrating very hard on the wood grain of the table.

"No, he couldn't have known." He said finally. "And even if he did, it wouldn't have caused a panic attack. And the sleep walking was just an accident. I doubt he does it all the time."

"I am not going to ask." Carlee said putting her hands up and shaking her head.

"He was in the hospital wing when he got sick the second time and-"

"I said I wasn't going to ask James." Carlee laughed. "Let's be done musing about Remus' health and/or sleep habits and get to class. If we are late to transfiguration, McGonagall won't hesitate to throw us all in detention." James nodded and got up from the table, but Sirius lingered.

"Something is up with him." He said finally standing up. "And I have every intention of finding out what it is."

Sirius' curiosity was only strengthened when Remus came back from the hospital three days later with a gash a crossed his left cheek. It was almost healed, but still completely visible due to the new pink skin.

"What happened to your face?" Sirius said clasping Remus on the shoulder. Remus flinched with pain, squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and then looked at Sirius who was looking at Remus with a horrified look on his face. Sirius jumped back and stumbled a bit.

"It's nothing Sirius." Remus said.

"What do you mean 'it's nothing'?" James asked. "You disappear for days, and when you get back you in pain, and have a huge cut a crossed your face. What part of that is 'nothing'?" Remus looked to Carlee for help. But she shrugged.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked, still looking at Remus like he had just seen a ghost.

"I was at home Sirius. How many times do I have to tell you?" Remus sighed. "My mom is sick."

"Still?" Peter asked.

"Yes, still. Other wise I wouldn't keep going home."

"How did you get hurt?" Sirius asked, taking a step closer and placing a hand on Remus' shoulder, much more gently this time.

"I- Well I-"

"You don't have to lie, you can tell us." Sirius said. "We are your friends."

"What?" Remus laughed. "What are you guys going on about? I am fine. _I _don't need some therapy session, and _we_ need to get to class."

"We need to talk." James said crossing his arms.

"No, we don't. I already told you. I don't like talking about my mother." Remus said determinedly.

"We need to talk about how you got hurt, not your mother." Sirius clarified.

"I had a panic attack." Remus blurted out. "Um… the doctor came to see my mum, and after he left, I had a panic attack and fell down the stairs outside my bedroom door."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.

"Why would I lie to you guys?"

"Why didn't you just tell us that?" James reasoned. Remus nodded his head in Carlee's direction and she rolled her eyes, but James and Sirius nodded. They understood that Remus was saying that he didn't want Carlee to know about his attacks. Remus sighed in relief and let them lead him to Defense against the Dark Arts.

Class had changed dramatically since the beginning of the year. Professor Perkins was not the same person she used to be since one of her relatives had been taken by the mysterious group of wizards. She spoke quieter, rarely smiled, and her classes were as boring as watching paint dry. Sirius, James, and Carlee would have found it to be the perfect class to pull a prank in, but they felt bad for her, and didn't have the heart to make her life any more difficult.

"Okay class," She said, not bothering to stand up from her seat. She looked extraordinarily small hunched over her desk, they could only see the tops of her shoulders and her head. "Why don't you turn to page 189 and read chapter 8 with a partner. It should be about the magical properties of bats and other winged beasts, but if it's not, read it anyway. No homework." After she was done talking, she put her head down on her desk and looked as if she had just started sobbing.

The class was used to this behavior, and just did as she had asked quietly.

At dinner that evening, Carlee got a letter. This wasn't only peculiar because the letter was being delivered during dinner instead of in the morning with all the others, but the envelope was also a deep red and had gold font on the front, with her names written in full, in rather elegant script. As soon as the friendly barn owl had given it to her, she blushed fiercely and shoved it into her bag.

"What is that?" Sirius asked, making a grab at her bag.

"What's what?" She asked.

"We are not playing this game again." Sirius huffed. "If this ends in you storming out of here and ignoring us for the weekend, I'll start to think that you have some serious issues. What's the letter that you just shoved into your bag?"

"Just a letter from my dad." Carlee said quietly.

"It looked pretty fancy." James said.

"Don't worry about it." She said, refusing to look any of them in the eye.

"What is it Carlee?" Remus asked, thinking that he knew what the letter was.

"Nothing."

"Why didn't Ella get one?" He asked, looking down the table, at Ella who was surrounded by her friends. She looked happier today then usual.

"It's not what you think." She said quickly, looking back and forth between Remus and Ella. "It's definitely not my birthday."

"Oh." Remus said. "Then, what is it?"

"It's March 11th." She whispered.

"And?" Sirius pressed. "I am not catching the significance."

"It's just- nothing. Okay, it's private." She said looking up at Sirius. "I tell you guys, especially you," She said pointing at Sirius. "Stuff that I don't tell other people. I don't know why, but I do. And this is private, I plan on keeping it that way, and that is that."

"At least she didn't storm away." James shrugged going back to his buttermilk pie. Sirius frowned at her, but gave in as well.

"You know what I think?" Sirius asked. "I think that we have behaved far to long."

"Random, but true." James smirked. "Do you have something in mind?"

"Not exactly. But it's forming. Just give me a minute."

"Alright." James nodded.

"Are we going to sneak down to the kitchens tonight?" Peter asked.

"That's hardly considered mischief, seeing as how we have yet to be caught." Sirius said shaking his head. "Can we do something to my cousin?" He asked suddenly, staring her down as he spoke. The seventh year, Bellatrix Black was sitting directly in front of him, probably unaware that he was even in the same room.

Carlee looked a crossed at her and nodded. "As long as whatever we do will get my brother as well. Alec, I don't really care that much for Daniel, certainly not enough to waste my genius on him."

"Sounds like a plan." Sirius agreed.

"Actually, it doesn't" Remus laughed. "It sounds like you've only just picked out the targets, that isn't even half of a plan." Sirius and Carlee both turned their attention to Remus, you smiled at them sheepishly as they frowned. "Sorry, but it's ture."

"That is completely beside the point." Carlee said.

"Are you guys going to help or not?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, did you have to ask?" James said smiling. "I've been itching for a good prank."

"I guess." Remus said a bit tentatively.

"I don't know. They are seventh year Slytherins. We could get killed." Peter squeaked.

"Don't be so dramatic Pete." Sirius sighed.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to." Carlee said. "We'll manage."

"No, I'll help." Peter said looking down at his hands. "I want to."

"Good," Remus said putting a hand on Peter's shoulder. "The more help, the better."

"I guess." Sirius shrugged. "Now we just have to come up with something."

"Should it be house related?" James asked.

"What do you mean?" Carlee squinted her eyes, a bit intrigued.

"You know, Slytherin v. Gryffindor. Or more of a family thing?"

"If we do a family thing, they will know who did it." Carlee said.

"Oh, I want them to know that it was us." Sirius said, causing Peter to squeak in fright. "You don't have to help!" He said, almost shouting at Peter. Kara Wise looked down the table and frowned at them. Sirius smiled back at her and waved.

"Still, I think that a family thing would be too obvious. Let's mess with their minds." Carlee said smirking. "You know, really get them reeling."

"I like the idea, but how are we going to execute it?" James said.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think that we should go some where that isn't housing the rest of the student body to plan this." Remus said gesturing around to all of the other students in the room. Frank and Carl were sitting rather close to them, and if they wanted, they could start listening to them at any time.

"Good call." Sirius said standing up. Everyone followed in suit, and they all were some of the first to leave the great hall. This did not go unnoticed by McGonagall, or Kara Wise.

"Okay," Carlee said, once they were all settled into the boy's dormitory and gathered comfortably on Remus' bed. "Here is what we are going to do…"

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so I only have a vague idea of what they are going to do, but I think it shall be good. Tell me what you think of this chapter.<strong>

**~Craz**

**Review Please!**


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Well, I am obviously not ahead anymore. No, sadly I have fallen behind, and for that I apologize. This chapter might be a little shorter because I want to post something so that I don't get out of the habit. I know that it is Thursday and I am already a day late, but I had three test this week, and a band concert, another thing, and no time to write. Hope that is a worthy excuse.**

**Now, enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Bit of Wire and a Large Black Bird<strong>

Lily was leaning up against one of the stone pillars outside of the library waiting for Severus. He was running late and her patients was wearing thin. He had told her to be there at nine o'clock, and it was ten after nine, she wanted to make it down to the great hall for a spot of breakfast before it was cleared, and breakfast was only open till ten on Saturdays. She sighed and started tapping her foot. If it was any of her other friends, she would leave now, but it was Sev. And she never got to see him, so she was being slightly more lenient.

She was about to leave when she heard the sound of running feet and decided to wait and see if that was Severus.

It was and he looked red in the face, which was different, and he was out of breath. "All hell has broken loose, I swear." He said coming to a stop beside her and leaning up against the wall.

"Are you alright Sev?" Lily asked, forgetting her anger at his tardiness.

"_I_ am fine." He said with a small smile on his face. "But your little Gryffindor friends are going to want to watch out."

"_My_ friends? What are you talking about?" Lily asked in surprise.

"Well, your housemates at the very least. Do you know what James, Sirius, Carlee, and Remus did?"

"Do I appear to have the slightest idea of what you are rambling on about?" Lily asked getting frustrated. "Just tell me what happened."

"Alright," Severus sighed, though he still had a large grin on his face. "Well, first, and I don't know how they did this, but there were two notes left on one of the desks in the Slytherin common room. One was for Alec Baker and the other for Bellatrix Black."

"Sirius' cousin and Carlee's older brother?" Lily checked. Severus nodded.

"They were just warnings, like 'watch your step' and stuff. I didn't actually get to see them," He admitted. "But that's what people told me. Anyway, Bellatrix flipped out on everyone in there and started telling us how we were the ones who needed to watch our step, then Alec put his hand on her shoulder and pointed at something on his note. That's when Bellatrix said, 'I am going to kill them' and started walking for the exit. Well, some of us were curious, and Alec was following her too, so we decided that we would go and watch whatever was about to happen."

"You should have went and got a teacher." Lily said looking wide eyed at her best friend. The thought of Carlee up against to seven years was frightening, weather she had the boys as back up or not, they still didn't stand a chance.

"Calm down, nobody died." Severus said dismissing her lecture. "So as soon as Bellatrix and Alec were in the corridor, they tripped. Both of them just fell flat on their faces. It would have been funny if I hadn't been so scared. Alec and Bellatrix are frightening at the best of times, when they are angry, they are down right horrifying. They pushed themselves off the ground and Bellatrix screams and starts running forward, only to fall again after a few steps. It happens again like twice before she realizes that they have set up the trip wire every few feet down the length of the corridor." Severus was cracking up at this point. "Sorry, but I didn't get to laugh the first time." He said between barks of laughter. Lily just smiled at him while shaking her head. She didn't see Severus laugh much, so she wasn't about to reprimand him now.

"Is that it?" Lily asked. Severus shook his head.

"No. They did eventually find Carlee, James, Sirius, and Remus." Lily looked a bit worried, but Severus didn't give anything away. "They were walking to breakfast and Bellatrix shouted at them…"

"_Sirius!" She hollered more red in the face then anyone had ever seen her. Her usual pale complexion was lost due to embarrassment and anger. Nobody had ever even dared mess with her before now. _

"_I am pretty sure it was all of them." Alec said coming up to stand next to her. The four culprits turned to face them. Carlee and Sirius looking much braver then James and Remus. Though they had known what they were getting themselves into, it was still harder to face them in reality then in a hypothetical situation. _

"_We did warn you to be fair." Carlee smirked._

"_You aren't even going to try and deny it?" Bellatrix screeched, her voice going up an octave. _

"_Why would we?" Sirius asked. "It was us."_

"_How did you get into the dorm?" Alec asked, eyeing Carlee._

"_I followed you." She said truthfully. "All I needed was the password, anybody could have figured that out."_

"_I would have noticed if you were following me." Alec sneered. _

"_Well… you didn't." Sirius laughed. Bellatrix pulled out her wand and pointed it straight at Sirius' heart._

"_Do you think this is funny?" She screamed, by now, the group of students surrounding them wasn't just Slytherins. The noise had enticed some members of other houses too. _

"_Obviously." Carlee said smiling. _

"_But before you do anything Bella dear," Sirius cooed, earning himself a hiss from his cousin. "You might want to consider that the letters we left you weren't only referring to the trip wire."_

"_What?" Alec asked glaring between the pair of them. _

"_You heard him Alec. I know that you aren't deaf." Carlee sighed. _

"_I don't play mind games." Bellatrix yelled and then pulled her wand back and was about to shout out a curse at them when Kara Wise and McGonagall came walking around the corner. The later was carrying a scroll of paper, scribbling down notes as McGonagall prattled off something important. When she saw what was going on, she froze. Her ceasing to talk had made Kara look up and when she did, she dropped her scroll. _

_During the momentary detraction of McGonagall showing up, James had fallen over and blood had started dripping down him face, originating from his nose. Remus had gotten down next to him and ad produced a bloody cloth that he was trying to hold up to James' face._

"_What is going on here?" McGonagall demanded once she found her voice again. "Two seventh years taking on some first years?" Bellatrix and Alec both were acting very relaxed about the whole thing, but the fear was in their eyes. Slightly, but it was there. "Well? Explain yourselves."_

"_I was just about to teach them a lesson." Bellatrix sneered. _

"_I see, and you Mr. Baker. Were you going to attack you younger sister?"_

"_Maybe." He said defiantly. _

"_Mr. Lupin, please escort Potter to the hospital wing, he doesn't need to get any more blood on the ground. As for you two," She said pointing her long finger at Alec and Bellatrix. "You will serve two weeks of detention with me and you have both lost 40 points for your house. What you have done is absolutely disgraceful." Her and Kara then stormed off in the direction that they had been heading and shooed people away at the same time. _

_This left Bellatrix, Alec, Carlee, and Sirius in the hall. They had a quick stare down and then Carlee winked at them, linked arms with Sirius and walked into the great hall for breakfast. _

"What had happened to Potter?" Lily asked when Severus had finished his story.

"Nothing, he was faking it. Nobody told McGonagall though. I saw him follow Black and Carlee into the great hall." Lily nodded. "You're not worried about him, are you?"

"No, I can't stand him. But that doesn't mean I want him to get hurt. He is in my house after all." Lily said looking at him sternly. "So is it over?"

"I don't know. For the moment." Severus shrugged. "I can't see Bellatrix and Alec just letting this slide."

"Yeah." Lily nodded. "I wish that Carlee would actually think before she did something so stupid."

"Yeah. Let's go get you some breakfast and then go hang out by the lake." Severus said nodding his head towards the stairs. Lily nodded and followed him down to the great hall.

"That was crazy!" James whispered from their corner of the common room. It was recently claimed, but their claim had stuck easily. Nobody came over here when they were there, and people would generally leave it open anyway.

"I know!" Sirius laughed. "I thought she was going to kill us."

"I think she might have been getting ready to." Carlee nodded.

"I don't think we should do the rest of it." Remus said looking at his friends with a worried expression. "I mean, we could just put it off."

"But did you see the looks on their faces, we can't put it off." Sirius said. He grabbed Remus' shoulder and shook him gently. "Come on man, where's your sense of fun?"

"I have a sense to live, and at the moment it is over ruling my sense of fun." Remus said smiling half-heartedly at Sirius.

"Well, tell it to stop. She isn't going to kill us." Sirius said leaning back in the only chair in their corner. Everyone else was sitting on the floor while Sirius was laying a crossed the chair, with his legs hanging off one arm and his head resting on the other.

"Says you." James snorted.

"Fine, we can be done for today." Carlee said. In all honesty, she agreed with Remus. She knew that her brother wasn't going to actually hurt her, or her friends, but Bella… she might. And she didn't want to be the cause of James or Remus getting hurt. She and Sirius were asking for it, James and Remus were just going along with them.

"What?" Sirius shot straight up in his chair, almost losing his balance.

"We'll, as in me and you, will finish it up tomorrow." She assured him. He huffed a bit, but didn't complain any further.

Well, tomorrow at breakfast, while Sirius and Carlee were finalizing their plans, the post came. Carlee and Sirius, who weren't expecting any mail, ignored the owls who were flying over their heads and continued to plan their next scheme for Alec and Bellatrix. But a large black owl, with odd red patches on it's wings landed directly in-between Carlee and Sirius, and they were forced to avert their attention to the massive bird.

Sirius didn't get to see Carlee's face go white.

The bird slowly lifted up one of its great feet and held it out to her. She lifted a hand and took the red envelope from the bird, who promptly flew away towards the Slytherin table and landed next to Alec, who started to stroke the bird.

Carlee took a shaky breath and turned the howler over. She wasn't going to look at her friends, she wasn't going to appear frightened, and she was just going to take it.

Sirius's gasp was lost as Carlee broke the wax seal and her mothers voice filled the hall.

"HOW DARE YOU!" It started, spitting an angry red tongue out at her. It was so close to her face that drops of ink her splattering on Carlee's face as it hissed and shook. But Carlee didn't flinch. "I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE. YOU DISGRACED US ENOUGH WHEN YOU GET YOURSELF PUT INTO THAT BLOODY HOUSE, THEN YOU BEFRIEND MUD-BLOODS AND NOW YOU EXPECT ME TO OVER LOOK THIS? DO YOU, YOU THINK THAT I WILL JUST TURN MY HEAD AND LOOK AWAY WHILE YOU HARASS YOUR BROTHER IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL? WELL YOU ARE WRONG THERE MISS. YOUR BROTHER HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG, FOR YOU TO EVEN CONSIDER DOING WHAT YOU'VE DONE WOULD HAVE LANDED YOU IN TROUBLE. BUT YOU ACTUALLY DID IT! YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE ON CHORES WHEN YOU GET HOME." It hissed at her one last time, then exploded, covering her uneaten food with bits of ash.

"Excuse me." Carlee said standing up and looking any where she could to avoid Sirius' eyes. "I think I have some transfigurations homework I still have to do." And then she ran from the Great Hall. Sirius would have followed, but Ella gave him a look and followed Carlee herself.

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><p><strong>AN: Is it shorter then usual, yes, but like I said, I just wanted to post the next chapter today so I don't get too far behind. Hope you liked it. I didn't want their prank to be some epic thing that would take genius' to put together, because they are eleven, so they can't be totally capable. They have to have room for improvement in the later years. But you can tell me about your thoughts in a review.<strong>

**~Craz**


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: Hey, I know. It's late. I am sorry. I could explain, but I am just going to type the story. Sound good? I thought so.**

**So this chapter is a bit more into Carlee's world. I have been keeping her a secret, wrapped up in a precious little bubble for the last 20 chapters, so POP. Not all of her secrets but some of them. And them some Remus werewolf drama.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Nine: Panic Attacks, the Truth, and Broken Bones<strong>

Carlee had never been this determined to not speak to the boys. It was more then her embarrassment, it was… well okay, it was mostly her embarrassment. Her pride was hurt and to a girl who had nothing else, her pride was everything. She couldn't just grin and bear it like Sirius had, and Sirius could only do that because Sirius was Sirius. He laughed about everything. That's just who he was. That may have been who she pretended to be when she was with him, but that's only who she wanted to be, in reality she was easily bruised and currently very hurt.

She was easily her mother's least favorite child. With a fiery passion to disregard everything that her mother had tried to force down her throat, she was the only one of Olivia's children who blatantly disobeyed, or disrespected her. She had tried when she was younger. She had tried to be good and make her mother proud of her, but she didn't want to make her proud any more, not since she was seven, and that's because she didn't want to do anything that would make her mother proud. Look down on muggle borns, hate half bloods, and half breeds.

Olivia Wilder, which was her maiden name, was openly supportive of the muggle attacks that had been happening in England recently and this frightened Carlee. Everything about her mother frightened her, she just hated showing it. Especially in front of her mother. She did everything she could to always look defiant when she was around, but sometimes she couldn't control the reflex to flinch away when her mothers hand came to close, or moved in her general direction. Her mother was a firm believer in corporal punishment, and Carlee was her favorite child to discipline. Everything that Carlee did was always wrong.

"Carlee! Wait up Carlee!" Sirius shouted after her as she all but ran out of the Charms classroom. She didn't want to see him right now. For some reason Sirius liked to try and talk about things. He was a boy wasn't her? That's why Carlee had taken to hanging out with boys. They didn't care, they didn't sit around and discus feelings. That's what she had her dorm mates for. And she could only stomach that for an hour or two a day.

"Carlee!" James added his voice to Sirius' and soon everyone in the hallway was quiet, looking between Carlee and the boys. Not wanting to cause yet another scene, she stopped. When they caught up to her, Sirius slung a lazy arm around her shoulder and James linked arms with her. "Don't you try and run from us." He said warningly. She rolled her eyes and frowned at the floor.

"Not a bad lesson in my opinion." Sirius said grinning. "A bit dry, seeing as how nothing blew up, but what are you going to do." He said cheekily nudging Peter in the ribs with his free arm. Remus was lagging behind them a few steps, limping ever so slightly on his left leg. This did nothing to lighten Carlee's mood. Remus was still limping 6 days after the last full moon. When Carlee had asked him about it a few days ago, he said that it was just an old wound that was flaring up, that his last transformation went fine, but she wasn't totally convinced. But him limping around was a constant reminder of her brother Chris, whom was at home in Alabama. She had left him all alone to come to Hogwarts, and she never felt more guilty about it then she did when she was with Remus after his transformations. She should be with her brother, after all, it should have been her who got bit...

"I haven't blown anything up since McGonagall's class the first week of school!" Peter cried indignantly, causing Carlee to snap out of her thoughts.

"I know." Sirius laughed. "I'm just joking around." Peter smiled at him and Sirius shook his head. "Though if you could blow something up soon, that would liven up the class a bit."

"I'll see what I can do for you." Peter said rolling his eyes. He was getting better, Sirius could almost stand him completely now. He didn't flinch at their every move any more either.

"So, we are done with classes for the day. What are we going to do?" James asked.

"I don't know, Carlee?" Sirius said turning his head to look at her. She shrugged and still didn't look at him. "Come on, you always come up with brilliant ideas."

"I don't know." She said quietly.

"We could go to the kitchens." Peter suggested. James shook his head though.

"We are going to have dinner in an hour; we don't want to spoil our appetites."

"Oh." Peter said, trying not to look sad. "I had nearly forgotten."

"Don't know how." Sirius said smiling. "We have dinner at the same time every day."

"We could go to the common room and see whose there." Remus said walking up so that he was next to James now. He had taken up the job to step in when ever he felt like they were being to hard on Peter. Peter didn't understand that they were just playing with him, so Remus had to be discrete about it too, other wise Sirius and James would catch on.

"Going once, going twice, sold. To the common room we go." Sirius said pointing to the set of stairs that would take them there and then charging forward, bringing Carlee and James with him. In his unanticipated haste, James stepped on the back of Carlee's robes causing her to fall forward onto Sirius and James tripped over the both of them and crashed into a suit of armor.

"Maybe the hospital wing would be more prudent." Remus said frowning down at the pile of his friends. Carlee quickly pushed her self up and stood, brushing her self off and then she looked down at Sirius and James. James glasses were broken and half of them were hanging off of his face while the half lay useless on the ground. He was lying on his back with one arm underneath him and one of his legs twisted around rather strangely. Sirius was in a much better position and had only fallen on his face.

Carlee and Remus walked over to James first, Remus picked up his glasses and Carlee tried to help him stand up.

"Ouch!" He yelped when he tried to put his weight on his right ankle.

"Careful!" Carlee quipped letting him put his arm around her and use her for support.

"You prat!" He yelled in Sirius' direction. Peter had helped him to his feet as Carlee and Remus were helping James. "You broke my ankle."

"It wasn't my fault!" Sirius yelled looking pale and a bit frightened. "I didn't do anything!"

"You started running!" James hissed as he tested his ankle again.

"Well… I didn't trip you!" Sirius said.

"No, but you didn't tell me that we were going to run. I tripped over Carlee's robes!"

"You see!" Carlee said, looking more like her old self then she had in the last few days. "It's really my fault. Now come on Sirius, I can't get him to the hospital wing by myself." Since this was the first time that she had truly talked to them in the last three days, they didn't hesitate to comply. "Now Remus, can you fix James' glasses so that we can leave." Remus did fix them, and he helped put them on James face.

James allowed Sirius to put his other arm around his neck and then he hopped to the hospital wing with Remus and Peter leading the way.

"What do you boys think you are doing?" Madam Pomfry said glaring at Remus before averting her gaze to the other four.

"I fell ma'am. I think that my ankle is broken."

"You fell?" She asked skeptically raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I fell." He said again. Sirius was looking at the floor, and Carlee just laughed.

"We sort of all tripped over each other. It's not your fault Sirius, now quit looking so pathetic." Remus laughed with her as Sirius whipped his head around and tried to glare at Carlee around James' head.

"Well come then. Let's see what we can do." She said leading them over to an empty hospital bed. Sirius helped James up onto it and them madam Pomfry took off his shoe and sock and announced that his ankle was in fact broken.

"But not to worry my dear. It's no trouble at all mending bones." She took out her wand and mended the break with just a spell. "Now, I don't want you over exerting it, but you should be fine now. Off you go."

"Alright, are we still going to the common room?" Sirius asked as they walked out the doors.

"I don't see why not." James said. "Let's just not have a repeat of what happened earlier."

"Of course. This time I plan on breaking your arms." Sirius said, and he ducked just in time to miss the blow that James had aimed at his head.

"You alright?" Remus asked, walking up beside Carlee. It was safe enough to ask, seeing as how the other three were currently occupied else where.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" She shrugged. "You?"

"My leg still twinges a bit." He said truthfully. "Look at James. His leg is completely fine already." His voice was coated in the slightest bit of jealously.

"That's just how things work." Carlee sighed. "It's not really fair is it?"

"There are a lot of things that aren't fair." He said quietly. They fell into a comfortable silence and walked behind their friends as James tried to punch Sirius, and Sirius tried to use Peter as a human shield. Things were almost back to normal.

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><p>A few days later, Carlee was back to herself completely. Her brothers still jeered at her when they passed her in the hallway, but other then that, the incident had never happened. But one problem leaves, another arises.<p>

"So, do you know when you'll be visiting your mother next?" James asked suddenly. They had all been sitting in the boys dorm, eating cookies that Mrs. Potter had made for them, James had told her that he shared them and the boxes that she sent got bigger and bigger. James, Sirius, and Peter were playing exploding snaps, and Carlee and Remus were playing chess.

"Oh…" Remus said looking at James and shaking his head. "I don't know. Whenever my dad says I guess."

"Your dad comes to get you?" Sirius asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, he writes to Dumbledore." Remus said feeling shocked. He couldn't believe how at ease he felt, despite the fact that he was currently lying to his friends. He did find, however, that he couldn't look at Carlee while he spoke. She knew the truth; he didn't want to know what she thought of him lying repeatedly to his best friends. But when he did catch her eyes, she just smiled at him and moved one of the chess pieces.

"Oh. And you don't ever know when he's going to write to him?" Sirius asked. He had accepted the lie easily enough, but he was pushing to far.

"Obviously not." Carlee said stepping in, much to Remus' liking. "Otherwise he would tell us when he was going to be gone."

"Are you sure that your mother is sick?" Sirius asked. Carlee made an odd choking noise and started coughing. When she stopped, she turned and glared at Sirius, who was still just waiting for an answer.

"What do you mean? Do you think that she is faking it?"

"No." Sirius said slowly, taking a bite of a cookie and chewing it as he thought about what he was going to say next. "I think that you might not be telling the truth. Not exactly anyway." James was shocked that he had been so blunt. Sirius and he had talked about his in private, being careful that Carlee was not around to scold them, and they had come to the conclusion that something was up. Something was wrong with their little friend. He disappeared, at seemingly random times, got ill a lot, and came back from his disappearances all beat up and bruised. Why would he come back in that condition if he was at home visiting his sick mother? Visiting a sick person didn't require any physical activity.

"You think that I am lying?" Remus said carefully. He was a liar, and he was about to lie just now. He wasn't feeling so comfortable any more. He looked over at Carlee, but she was to busy looking dumbfounded to take notice to his silent plea for help.

"Well, yes."

"And why do you think that?" Remus asked as calmly as he could.

"When you come back from 'visiting your mother,'" Sirius said, putting air quotes as he said the later half of the sentence. "You are always hurt. You are still limping a bit, and it's been a week and a half since your last 'visit.'" He added air quotes again. "How do you get hurt, sitting besides someone's bedside?"

Remus had to think about that. It was a valid point. As hard as he had tried, he couldn't hide all of his wounds from his friends. He kept getting new scars, and broken limbs. He didn't heal as quickly as regular kids did. James' ankle was completely healed after madam Pomfry fixed it, but his leg was still giving him a bit of a problem. He didn't know how to answer Sirius' question with a logical response.

"Well, I have already told you that I have panic attacks." He said lamely. He knew before he said this that it was a lame excuse, but it was the only one that he had at the moment.

"You told us at the beginning of the year that they don't happen that often. So now you are trying to tell me that you have one every single month?" Sirius asked. He was still to calm and calculating for Remus' liking.

"Well, it's different now-"

"Look, if you don't want to tell us what is really going on, fine. But you don't need to lie to us either." Sirius said cutting him off. He took another bite of his cookie and let the silence swell to fill the room. Carlee and Peter had still not moved or said anything since the interrogation had started, and James was listening eagerly from Sirius' side. "So?" Sirius said looking Remus in the eyes. "Is your mother really sick?"

Carlee huffed and put her head down on her knee. "Why do you have to do that?" She asked before Remus answered. "Why?"

"Do what?" Sirius asked, allowing the momentary pause in the conversation.

"Pick and pick and pick!" She said. "You do it with me, and now Remus. Why can't we just keep something's to ourselves? You don't share your life story with us, why should we share everything with you?"

"You are kidding me, right?" Sirius asked, looking between Remus and Carlee. "She knows doesn't she? You know what is actually going on when he leaves every month." He looked angry and hurt as he turned around to face Remus. "You told her, but you lie to us? What kind of friend does that?"

"I didn't tell her!" Remus said, noticing only too late that he just confessed to lying about everything. "She just, you know, figured it out."

"Well, that makes it all better." Sirius said throwing the deck of cards on the floor and pushing himself up off of James' bed. "As long as you didn't _tell _her. That makes everything better."

"I didn't tell everyone about my dad when he was missing." Carlee said. "I only told you. You were alright with that." Sirius didn't say anything and just turned around to look out the window. "Sometimes you don't want everyone to know what is bugging you. It's enough to just have one person know. He isn't keeping it a secret to hurt your feelings Sirius."

"My feelings aren't hurt." He shot back half heartedly.

"You take everything to heart, you know that." She smiled at his back. "Turn around and look at us." He didn't listen. "Fine, pout."

"Sirius?" Remus said carefully.

"Are you going to tell us now?" He said whirling around. His grey eyes were hard and darker then usual. They reminded James of the boys he had met on the train. The one that spoke too proper and didn't smile. He hadn't seen this side of Sirius since they got of the Hogwarts Express.

"I can't Sirius." Remus said looking at the ground. "I just can't. You wouldn't understand."

"No, I probably would. What I don't understand is why you felt like you had to lie to us for the last seven months." He was speaking with a clipped voice and not looking at Remus any more.

"What do you think that we are going to do?" James asked softly. "Carlee knows, she still likes you." That hit to close to home for Remus. He felt his eyes fill with water and had to bit down on his lip to stop himself from crying. That was exactly what he was afraid of. How could James, Sirius, and Peter continue to be friends with him if they knew what he was. He had dismissed Carlee as her brother was a werewolf as well, and she was used to the idea of being near one. But James and Sirius and Peter were all pure blood wizards who had grown up to look down on werewolves. They wouldn't understand. He looked over at Carlee who nodded.

"It's true. I do still like you." She said with a small smile.

"I know _you_ do." He said dropping his arms at his sides in frustration. "But…"

"I know what you are afraid of, but they _are_ eventually going to figure it out. I don't think you need to be afraid of what will happen when they do." She said. She felt like such a hypocrite as she said this. She didn't tell the boys anything really, and that was mostly because she was afraid of what they would think of her.

"But, it's the same with everyone. You are just one exception to the rule." He said looking exasperated. "And you know why you are the exception."

This caused Sirius and James to look at her again. She put her hands up and shook her head. "That is not my secret, it's my brothers. If he wants to tell you he can, but I will not."

"Fair enough." James shrugged. "But really Remus, I think that you should just tell us."

"I can't." He said again. Sirius walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing is so bad that I would stop being your friend." He said.

"Yeah Remus." James agreed, and then he elbowed Peter in the ribs.

"Yeah Remus." Peter said dumbly.

"We're your best mates." Remus took a step away from Sirius and sighed.

"My own family didn't even stick around after they found out, why would you guys?"

"Families are stupid." Sirius said easily. James nodded, but couldn't really agree with that. His family was quite nice.

"Think about it." Remus said after a few minutes. "What do you know?"

"You disappear once a month, you leave after you get slightly ill, then you come back all injured." Sirius said promptly. Now that he knew that Remus was going to talk, he was being much nicer. He had lost the hard look in his eyes. Now he was just full of curiosity.

"Yes." Remus said quietly. He couldn't believe what was going on. His father had made him swear up and down that he wouldn't tell anyone. He had told him that telling anyone could get him kicked out of school, and then he wouldn't be able to become a proper wizard. "Do you notice a pattern?"

"What do you mean a pattern?" Sirius said. But Remus shook his head.

"You are gone at the beginning of every month." James said looking at nothing in particular, he looked as though he was in deep thought. "When the mo- OH!" He turned and looked at Remus with wide eyes. Sirius turned to look at James.

"What?" He asked. "When the what?" Remus ignored Sirius' question and sighed looking James in the eyes. He had to look at him when he said it, and he had to say it too.

"Yes" He said, trying to sound brave, but his words came out sort of strangled. "I'm a werewolf."

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><p><strong>AN: Dun Dun Dun! The secret is out. That chapter was quite full of stuff. Carlee should be a werewolf, her mother is abusive, Sirius has some sort of trust problem, and Remus is a werewolf! Of course, you already knew the last one, but they others? Maybe them too. Tell me what you think! How do you think I will have everyone react?<strong>

**~Craz**


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Okay, I am going to finish this story before the New Year. Just two more chapters if my calculations are correct. But that means four months in two chapters and all this werewolf business. Can we do it? I think so, but I am not positive.**

**Oh and by the way, I just got this new thing for my computer. It is called the dragon and it types whatever I say. I am still getting used to it, but it is really cool. Just wanted to tell you. :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty: A Win for the House<strong>

The silence that followed this proclamation could have rivaled that of a morgue. Remus just stood there with his fists clenched and his jaw set. He was staring hard at James who looked neither repulsed nor frightened. Just shocked.

Peter was the first to break the silence, though he did it with a whimper.

"Shut up." Carlee snapped, looking away from Remus to glare at the frightened boy.

"Don't Carlee." Remus said quietly. "I knew this would happen." He knew that he wasn't going to be able to stop himself from crying for much longer, so he turned around to leave. But before he reached the door, he stopped and faced them again. I'll leave you all alone, I promise. But you can't tell anyone else. If they found out, I wouldn't get to go to school here anymore and…" He tried to meet somebody's eye, but nobody would look at him. "I really am sorry." Remus turned and left. He didn't want to wait and see if anybody was going to follow him.

Carlee stood up as soon as the door slammed. Other than Peter's whimper, the boys had yet to say anything. She looked torn between wanting to follow Remus and wanting to scream in furry. "Really?" She said, choosing the later of the two options. "You've been friends with him for over a year and now. And you're going to let him walk out?" She looked almost deranged with handfuls of her hair in her fists and her bright blue eyes wide with rage. She stomped her foot, then ran out of the room without looking back. When the door slammed for the second time, it seemed to snap the boys out of their trance.

Sirius and James looked each other, and then James sighed. He didn't know what he thought Remus' secret was going to be, but he did know that him being a werewolf was the last thing on his mind. Sirius quietly swore he kicked his bedpost.

"Well this sucks." James said falling onto his bed.

"No kidding." Sirius said with a humorless laugh, as he fell onto his bed. "If I had known that that was his secret, I think I would've left him alone."

"No you wouldn't have." James said. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked sitting upright and looking at James. "We are still his friends, there's nothing to do." James rolled onto his side and looked at Sirius.

"What do you mean we are still his friends?" Peter squeaked looking horrified. "He is a werewolf!" The last word came out in a choked whisper.

"So what?" Sirius growled. "He's our friends."

"I meant," James said bringing the conversation back to himself. "What are we going to do? Remus just stormed out of the room." They were quiet for a moment.

"I don't know." Sirius whispered. "He lied to us."

"He's a werewolf." Peter added.

"Maybe he just needed to take a walk." James said. "He'll be back later, we can talk to him then." Sirius agreed and Peter whimpered again.

"Yeah, we'll talk to him later."

Carlee had found Remus pacing back and forth at the end of a deserted hall. He had tears on his face and he looked beside himself. Carlee stopped short and he never noticed her. Carlee had never seen Remus this distraught and she couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for what happened, if she hadn't told him that everything is going to be okay, if she hadn't told him that they would understand, this wouldn't be happening now. Everything would be fine. Sirius may be a little bit upset, but they would still be in the boys dorm, with her and Remus playing chess, and the other three playing exploding snaps.

"Remus?" She called to him, causing his muttering to cease. He turned to look at her, and instead of the anger she feared, what she saw was worse. He looked broken. Like someone had just pulled a rug out from under his feet. "I am so sorry." She whispered walking over to him and throwing her arms around him. "If I had known-I should've stopped-they shouldn't have- I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Carlee, I should've known better." Remus said into her shoulder. "My parents warned me about this, it's the same every time."

"But they're supposed to be different." Carlee said bitterly.

"You don't think they'll tell do you?" Carlee pulled away from Remus but kept her hands on his shoulders.

"They wouldn't do that." She said with fierce determination. She didn't know if she believed that entirely, but that's what Remus need to hear.

When Carlee finally coaxed Remus into going back to the Gryffindor common room, he told her that he was going to sleep on the couch tonight. "I just don't want to go up there."

"You are still a student here. They can't run you out of your own room." Carlee said. "I'll go up there with you." She started towards the stairs but Remus grabbed her by the arm and swung her around.

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't really want to be up there tonight." He looked over at the couch, and then back at her. "I'll just sleep on the couch. It'll be better that way."

"I'll stay down here with you. Just let me go get some pillows and blankets." Before he could say anything she was walking up the stairs towards the girl dormitory.

"I thought you said he was just going for a walk." Sirius whispered to James after all of their other roommates had come and fallen asleep. He was currently sitting on James' bed and eating copious amounts of chocolate that James's mother had sent.

"Well, he has to come back sometime."

"We are not supposed to care right?" Sirius asked, looking sideways at James.

"I don't think so." The two boys were quiet for a while. Sirius still munching on chocolate, and James was thinking quietly to himself. "You know my mother works on the board at St. Mungos. Her and my dad went out of their way one time to make sure that a werewolf that came in got treatment for their wounds. My dad's a healer, he treated the werewolf himself. I was like probably six or seven, and he brought me and talk to him. I didn't know until afterward that he was a werewolf."

"You could've brought that up when we were arguing with Ian and Orian at the beginning of the year." Sirius laughed. "We've known Remus forever."

"Yeah, he's still just Remus."

"Guess we can't really blame him for not telling us earlier. Can we?"

"Nope."

"You know, we should go look for him. He's out there somewhere, thinking that we hate him." Sirius said sliding off of James' bed and grabbing the invisibility cloak. James sat up and followed him. They didn't slip under the cloak until they had closed the door behind them. But they didn't have to go very far to find Remus. And neither of them were very surprised to find Carlee with him. They had pushed two couches near each other and were sitting up talking quietly. It looked as though Carlee had gone down to the kitchens, because they had hot chocolate and chocolate cake. Since the boys were under the invisibility cloak, neither Carlee nor Remus saw them coming.

"You know, thanks for writing to Christian, I never did thank you for that. I meant to, but the whole Sirius thing sort of distracted me."

"You know, you never told me what happened?" Remus said smiling.

"Well, actually I got pretty lucky. Nothing happened."

"I don't even know what you thought was going to happen." Remus sighed.

"Look, I just got in trouble with Sirius for you telling me a secret. I am not about to spill everything." Sirius looked over at James and smiled sort of sheepishly. James just shook his head.

"Okay, let's continue with this half conversation where I pretend that I know what you are talking about."

"Thank you." Carlee smiled. "Anyway, I was just afraid of my family really. They can be a bit… over bearing."

"Well, I am glad things worked out."

"Worked out?" Sirius said pulling the cloak off and revealing James and himself. "I had a great time at your house. Why didn't you? Everything was more then fine."

"I was just too much on edge." Carlee said not even missing a beat. Remus on the other hand had gone white.

"Why didn't you come back to the dorm?" James said, stepping around Sirius and closing the small distance from where he was to Remus' couch.

"I thought that you guys didn't want me there." Remus said quietly, surprised beyond words that James was getting this close to him.

"Told you." Sirius said, forgetting his argument with Carlee and plopping down on the other side of Remus. "Look Remus, you can still sleep in your bed. You needn't sleep on the couch. It can't be that comfortable."

"How gracious of you Sirius. You're going to allow him to sleep in his own bed?" Carlee said from her couch. James smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, we'll probably still let him sit with us at breakfast too. Lunch, most likely, dinner is debatable." James sat down and put his arm around Remus. "I am sorry that we made you feel like you couldn't tell us. And that we made you run out of the room. We were just, you know, shocked. We thought that you would come right back."

"But you didn't." Sirius sighed. "We should have came looking for you sooner. Sorry."

"Really? You guys are still my friends?"

"Of course. What kind of people would we be if we ditched you?" James asked.

"Normal people." Remus laughed. It was a high pitched elated sort of laugh.

"Well, you already know that we aren't exactly normal, soooo…" Sirius said smiling at him. "You do know that we have some question, right?"

"Well of course, go ahead, ask me anything." Remus said smiling really widely. He had never talked about being a werewolf before, but he was too happy that his friends were not deserting him to mind. If they had some questions, he could give them some answers.

"How old were you, you know, when you were bit?" James asked.

"Four."

"Do you know who did it?" Sirius asked.

"No." Remus was a little shocked at this. "When I was bit, they were in their werewolf form. They weren't human." He couldn't believe that he just said that. That he was talking so normally about what he had learned to avoid at all costs. He'd never even talked about this with his parent, not even his mother, who tried to be much more understanding.

James and Sirius looked shocked too. Their knowledge on werewolves was only what they heard growing up. And growing up in a pureblood house, weather James' parents had tried to show no prejudice or not, gave you some misconceptions about a lot of things, including werewolves.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well," Now Remus was uncomfortable. He didn't want to have to tell them that he was a different being when he transformed. He didn't want them to know that he completely loses control when he's the werewolf. "You can't recognize a werewolf as a human, when they are a werewolf."

"Oh, right." Sirius said softly. He hadn't really thought about the fact that once a month, Remus disappears and turns into a monster. He didn't know what he had been thinking about. "Does it hurt?"

"Not too much." Remus lied.

"Then why do you come back all hurt?" James asked.

"Well, the wolf gets lock in the shrieking shack. And he wants to get out." Remus said slowly.

"Of course it hurts him." Carlee said, locking eyes with Remus. "He doesn't really get sick before the full moon. Just sore."

"Sore? But why does it hurt before the… the moon comes up?" James asked.

"Because when I transform, all of my bones change and my muscles. They have to get ready to change, and it does hurt a bit."

The night went on like this for a while longer before James decided that they all needed to go to bed because there was the Slytherin v. Gryffindor match tomorrow and they had to get up early to get seats. And just like that. Things seemed to be back to normal.

Except for the fact that Peter stayed behind the next morning. He told James that he would meet them later and then pulled his covers up over his head and stayed like that until all the boys had left.

"It's me." Remus said solemnly.

"Peter is afraid of his own shadow; you are going to have to give him some time to get used to this." Sirius laughed. "I mean, I am still not used to it. I am just not a frightened twat."

"Yeah, I often wonder how he got put into Gryffindor in the first place." James said. He was about five paces ahead of them as he spoke.

"Slow down James, I don't think that anyone else is even awake yet." Carlee laughed as she ran up to them. "By the way, thanks for waiting for me."

"We have to hurry and get breakfast. And you know how long it takes me to eat breakfast. James figured that you were more then capable of getting down to the great hall on your own. You should be honored." Sirius said in the most sarcastic voice that he had. Carlee thwacked him over the head and ran a bit more to catch up with James who was disappearing behind one of the great hall doors.

"They just don't understand Carlee." James whined as the two of them found a place to sit and began to fill their plates. "It's the last Quidditch game, and it's Slytherin v. Gryffindor. How can they not be excited?"

"They are, they just don't show it." Carlee said smiling. "Besides, we can't all be as excited as you."

"Whatever." James laughed digging into his food. When Remus and Sirius finally made it into the great hall and sat down a crossed from James and Carlee, James looked up and pointed a piece of bacon at them. "I am warning you know, if you are not done in about ten minutes, I will leave without you."

"Oh, well we don't want that." Sirius chuckled. "Calm your self Potter. We will not make you late."

"Just be glad that this is probably our last year of having to go down to the pitch with him." Remus smiled. He still wasn't exactly sure if Sirius and James were okay with him and what he was, but he figured that if he acted normal, then they would do the same.

"Your right. He'll be on the team next year and we can sleep in and sit where ever we want to in the stands." Sirius laughed when he saw James' lip start to twitch.

"He's just kidding James." Carlee said rubbing circles on his back. "We will still get up with you and make sure to get front row seats so we can cheer you on."

"You can do that stuff. I like two things. Eating and sleeping. And I don't get to do much of either when there is a Quidditch game."

"You'll be okay Sirius." Remus laughed. "Now let get down to the pitch before James explodes."

"Sounds like a good plan." Sirius said and he grabbed a fist full of bacon and stuffed it in his pocket. "Besides, we could always go to the kitchens later. The elves will make me some breakfast."

They were the first ones to leave the great hall, besides the players themselves who seemed to be no where in sight as it were, and people quickly started to follow their lead. So they had to practically run down to the pitch to be the first ones there. But they did end up getting their first, and got their seats.

"I don't even know why we work so hard to get here first." Sirius said as the stands around them started to fill up. "First of all, the half of the pitch is front row seats. Second of all, there are only five rows behind us. And they are all upward. We could see just as well from there."

"You want to switch places then?" Rodger Smith said cheekily coming up behind Sirius with his brother Josiah.

"It's because we are short Sirius." Carlee explain shooing away the Smith brothers. "We wouldn't be able to see over their heads."

"It's probably true." Josiah laughed. "My brother does have a rather large head."

"Oh shut up Joe." Roger laughed. "Hope you guys don't mind that I brought him, but seeing as how we're playing Slytherin today, I thought he could be an honorary Gryffindor."

"The more the merrier." James laughed. "Besides, you were wicked on your broom. I am sorry that your team wasn't playing as well as you." James said shaking Josiah's hand.

"Well, it happens sometimes when more then half of your team graduates at a time. I had to pick five new players, and I couldn't very well just switch in the middle of the season. They didn't play well together, but what are you going to do. I have next year I suppose."

"Hey, wait a minute?" Carlee said pointing at Rodger. "I was looking forward to your commentary."

"Yeah, well the Slytherins weren't. They went to McGonagall and told her to get a non biased commentator or one of them was going to commentate. So she told me that she couldn't let me do it today, which sucks. I was up all last week coming up with witty things to say about the Slytherins." Carlee laughed.

"How are they going to find an unbiased student?" Sirius asked. "Everybody hates the Slytherins."

"Well, I didn't ask her that." Rodger smiled. "Now, are we going to have to ask you to scoot over?"

"Apparently so." Remus said scotching closer to Carlee. Once the Smith brothers were fit on their bench, a hush fell over the stands. Madam Hooch was walking out onto the field with the Quaffle in her hands. She pointed to the Gryffindor corner and the team walked out. Emery Brown was in front. Cleo Downing and Joyce Camry flanked her and the rest of the team walked out behind them. The stands went wild. Cheers rang out from the sea of blue, and yellow. But neither of them could match the notice coming from the Gryffindor section of the stands. They were literally causing the stands to shake under their feet.

When madam Hooch pointed to the other end of the field, the cheering instantly turned into booing. The Slytherins cheering could only scarcely be heard. Then an energetic course of 'Go Go Gryffindor' broke out a crossed the pitch. Though Alec Baker looked as though he wasn't hearing anything. The rest of the team was hissing at the stands, but Alec just walked up to Emery, and shook her hand. Even from where they were sitting, they could tell that Alec had attempted to crush her hand, but Emery just smiled at him and walked back to her team. When the whistle blew, all fourteen players exploded into the air, and the game began.

"Well, this is our last Quidditch match of the season and as a measure to remain unbiased, I was asked to do the commentating." Dumbledore's voice boomed through out the pitch. Carlee and James exchanged a look and then laughed. This was going to be interesting. "Alec Baker, the captain of the Slytherin team has the Quaffle right now and is working on getting it down to the Gryffindor end of the pitch to score the first goal of the game. But it looks like Emery Brown is waiting for him. She is the Gryffindor's Captain you know. And Alec has thrown the Quaffle, but it looks like Joyce Camry has intercepted the Quaffle. Now I have always admired how the chasers on the Gryffindor team really know how to work together. Joyce passes it to Cleo Downing, who passes it to Mr. Cliff, who just ducked under Daniel Baker, a beater for the Slytherin team. My bad, he is a chaser. What is he doing with the beaters bat then?" Laughter filled the stands for a moment, but quickly died in everyone's throats as a bludger came up behind Joyce Camry and was about to knock her off of her broom. But, having already shown her Acrobat like skills on a broom, everyone was still surprised to see her slip down like a sloth, with one hand on her broom, and the other holding the Quaffle.

"And that was a spectacular move by Miss. Camry." Dumbledore said smiling from the commentators stand. McGonagall was standing behind him looking rather fondly at her team. "And then she scores. That was a very nice try Rodolpus, but it looks like Camry got the better there. You'll get it next time." The Gryffindors laughed, but no one could deny that the headmaster was being unbiased. He was completely sincere when he spoke words of encouragement to either team. And the game went on. Dumbledore spoke his disapproval of the Slytherins more aggressive take on the game, but made sure to give them praise where he saw fit.

It was a good game, though James would've liked the score to have a bit more cushion to it. It was 90-60, with the Gryffindors leading. The way the Gryffindors were playing they didn't want to be out here for very long. Seth, the seeker, had thus far been ignoring the happenings of the game and searching the pitch for the snitch. But like the previous games, James was the first to notice the tiny, fluttering, gold ball flying around. When he spotted it, it was just below the Hufflepuff section of the pitch. He discreetly told Carlee where was, and then prayed that Seth would find it before Lucius Malfoy. They didn't have to wait long to find out, because not 2 minutes after James had caught sight of the snitch, Seth started speeding forward on his broom with his hand outstretched. When Seth did this, James wondered if he had known when the snitch was the whole time. Lucius Malfoy never had a chance, because Seth made sure to be close enough to the snitch before going after it. The ending score is 240-60. Gryffindor had won.

That night, the party lasted until morning. The older students never tried to get the younger ones to bed and even Kara Wise was in a good mood. The Gryffindor's head just barely scraped up enough points to win the Quidditch cup. The Hufflepuffs were only 50 points behind them. But they had the cup, so the numbers didn't really matter.

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><p><strong>AN: well, that is the longest chapter I have ever written, I think. But I've got where I needed to get, and the next chapter should be the last. Let me know what you think, leave a review.<strong>

**~Craz**


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: This is THE LAST CHAPTER! I did it. I finished before the year ended. I am pretty proud of myself. So I hope you enjoyed the whole thing, _and_ I hope you have a happy new year. See you next year! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty-One: The End of the Beginning<strong>

The end of the year came rolling around rather quickly after the end of the Quidditch season. And before anyone knew it, June had fallen upon the castle. And with that, came the end of the year exams. The Gryffindor common room had become a place of no talking, where fifth, and seventh years were hoarding half of the libraries books and only leaving for a few minutes at a time at meal times. Sirius, James, and Carlee had quickly learned not to mess with any of them.

Kara Wise had given Sirius and James a detention for 'Breathing to loudly' as they walked passed her, and they hadn't even been trying to bug her.

What really got to them was Richard Smith. The happy go lucky fifth year that they had joked around with all year. He was the one who had taken the blame for James, Sirius, Remus, and Franks prank with the water bucket on the door. He liked pranks. But when Sirius and James decided to go around the room and put the stacks of books in different locations, Richard was yelling just as loudly as Kara.

"Can't you guys just grow up?" Kara yelled at them as she and Richard chased the lot of them out of the common room.

"I was just _my _home work." Remus said putting his hands up. "I wasn't doing anything."

"Me neither." Carlee added.

"You're just a bunch of marauders, you know that!" Richard shouted, grabbing Sirius by his robe and pushing him out the door into the hallway.

"We didn't take anything!" James shouted as the door slammed shut.

"I think you pushed it a bit too far dears." The fat lady said smiling down at them.

"But _we_ didn't do anything." Carlee protested.

They had successfully gotten themselves banned from the common room. They now spent all their time outside under one of the trees by the lake. It was nice out now, so they didn't mind, but the fact that they couldn't go to the common room, made them want to.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Sirius asked picking up a rock and tossing it into the lake.

"Whatever we want." James said.

"Well, we can't go in the common room." Sirius huffed.

"We don't normally hang out in there anyway." Carlee said smirking at him.

"Whatever. I am bored."

"Hey Remus?" James asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever ask your parents if it's alright for us to come over this summer?"

Remus looked at James with a blank expression. "Really? You still want to?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius asked sitting up straighter and looking at Remus with an angry sort of expression. "Three moons Remus. We have known for three moons. We have sat up with you in the hospital wing and played chess until our brains melted and you still think that we have a problem with your being a- you know." Sirius had a bit of a proclivity for saying a bit too much, but he caught himself that time.

"Well, I don't know." Remus said hugging his knees to his chest. "I can ask if you want."

"That would be appreciated." Sirius sighed. "I don't know what I will do if I have to be locked up at my place for two whole months."

"Yeah, I sort of want to get out too." Carlee said. "And the couch would be fine, as long as I get to come."

"Alright, I'll ask." Remus said smiling. He didn't know why he was still a bit doubtful when it came to Sirius and James' loyalty, but he couldn't help it. They were supposed to act like he had expected them too. That is what his parents told him. And because they had ground it into him that nobody would accept him if they knew what he was, he kept expecting them to change their minds. And that is why he hadn't told his parents that his friends had figured out that he was a werewolf.

"Do it now." Sirius said crawling over to lean on the tree next to Remus. "So I can see you writing the letter."

"Alright." Remus laughed pulling out a piece of parchment, and a quill. "But after this, I want to study for exams. They are in one week you know."

"Yes professor, I know." James and Sirius said at the same time.

After Remus had written the letter to his parents, asking if his friends could spend the weekend at their house during the summer, and Sirius had checked it over, they all opened their books and allowed Remus to quiz them with possible exam questions. Remus wasn't really surprised that Sirius and James were able to answer almost all of the questions he asked. They hadn't even cracked open their school books to study, but they had a way of retaining information even when they didn't appear to be paying any attention.

Carlee could answer his questions as well, but she had been studying with him and took school work a lot more seriously then the boys did. So Remus wasn't at all surprised that she could answer all the questions that James and Sirius could not.

When the studying came to a halt, due to lunch, the gang packed up their bags and headed into the castle. Remus and Carlee were still talking about a possible potion that they would have to brew for the exam when they spotted Peter walking down the stairs with Ian and Carl. He was trailing after them and looked to be having a conversation with Ian. Remus was quite sure that he was the only one who noticed the small boy.

It had been three and a half months since Remus' secret had come out and Peter had yet to form a coherent sentence around Remus. Actually, Peter hadn't even said two words to Remus.

About a week after Peter found out about Remus, James and Sirius decided that they needed to confront him to make sure that he wasn't planning on doing anything stupid. They never told Remus what exactly happened, or what was said, but he was pretty sure that they had made Peter cry and promise not to tell anyone that Remus was a werewolf.

Remus couldn't believe how lucky he was to still have three of his friends after the truth had been said, but he still wished that Peter had been as understanding as James and Sirius. But they were right; Peter wasn't as brave as they were. Maybe he wasn't brave enough to have a monster as a friend.

But both parties walked by, neither noticing the other.

After exams finished, Remus found it harder to be upset about Peter. The fifth and seventh years were elated. They had finished their O.W.L.S and their N.E.W.T.S and couldn't be happier. The seventh years were almost carefree as they were done with school now and getting ready to enter the wizarding world as adults. Though there are those like Joyce Camry, who hadn't forgotten what was going on, or what had been going on. There have been no more attacks, kidnappings, or murders since the last. Were some found that comforting, Joyce found it concerning.

She did put on a happy face, but everybody knew that as soon as she got out, she was going to be looking for grandfather. She, Gideon Prewett, and Kara Wise had already signed up for auror training.

But the general atmosphere of the Gryffindor common room, was much lighter than had been. Now everyone was done studying and with only a week left before school ended, everybody was happy just relaxing.

James, Sirius, and Carlee were currently sitting in the corner of the common room, with James sitting in the only chair that came with their territory. It was four days before the train would come into Hogsmade and take them to London.

Sirius was just about to start throwing bits of paper at Kara's head, when Remus came jogging in through the port hole. He was smiling and holding a piece of parchment in his hand.

"It's come!" He shouted, running the last few meters between himself and the gang. None of them had any idea what he was talking about, but the smile on his face was infectious. "My mom, she has written back!" He clarified. "She said that you can all come over!"

"That's great!" Sirius yelled jumping up and pulling Remus into a bear hug. "I don't have to stay home all summer!"

"It is great." James smiled. "I can't wait to see where you live."

"Well, it's not much." Remus assured him.

"It'll still be grand." Carlee laughed, getting up and joining the hug. "Wait, they did say that I can come too, right?"

"Yes, yes. Of course. My mum said that we can set up the spare bedroom for you."

"This summer is going to rock." Sirius said letting go of Remus so that he could show Carlee the letter.

The next four days went by faster then any of them could have thought possible. Soon they were all walking down to Hogsmade to get on the Hogwarts express. Their things were already brought down while they were eating their last meal as first years. They got to the train where they saw that Hagrid was one of the teachers helping direct the students onto the train. They were really there to make sure that all of them got onto the train instead of wandering off into the small town.

"I don't think it would be too hard to slip out of sight." James said cheekily patting his pocket, where they all knew the invisibility cloak was, ready to be whipped out at the first sight of possible mischief making opportunity.

"Yeah, the problem would be getting back home without our parents realizing that we were missing in the first place." Carlee said shaking her head. " Not that I wouldn't mind delaying this some more, but I don't think that we would get away with that seeing as how they are going to be waiting for us at the station."

"I was only joking Carlee. I have to be on my best behavior for a while so that I can go over to Remus'." James said. Carlee wasn't sure that his parents would really deprive him of going to his friend's house if that was what he wanted to do, but she didn't think that she needed to voice that opinion out loud.

"Yeah, I am going to have to behave too." Sirius sighed, as if he had just realized it.

"I don't know why that is such a problem for you two." Remus laughed. "But you better make sure that you don't do anything that would make them not let you come. It would be awful if one of you couldn't make it."

"I mean, mind you, Remus and I would still find something to do if I am the only one that can make it," Carlee said in serious voice. "It will just be best if all of us can be there."

"Peter won't be there." Remus whispered under his breath. None of the others heard him. And if they did, they acted as if they hadn't.

"We better hurry up and find a compartment before they are all full." James said jumping onto the train. Carlee, Sirius, and Remus followed him to the back of the train. The last compartment was empty, as they had hoped, and they all got in put their school bags on their seats before going out to get their luggage into their compartment.

When the train finally started to pull away from the station, Sirius had already pulled out a bag from James' trunk that was full of yet more baked goods from Mrs. Potter.

"You do know that we just got done eating lunch, correct?"

"Yeah, I skimped out on dessert." He said smiling at Remus.

"You had two pieces of chocolate pie, a hand full of pumpkin pasties, and you were still eating licorice wands as we walked down here." Remus said, counting off the sweets on his hand.

"I don't know why you guys act so surprised still. I have come to the conclusion that Sirius' doesn't have a stomach. He simply has a black hole." Carlee said reaching a crossed the compartment to take a sweet out of the bag.

"That makes sense." James said.

Again, time seemed to be slipping through their hands, for the ride to London seemed to be much shorter then they remembered, and soon they were hugging each other goodbye, and telling everyone to write.

"We'll see you real soon." James said as Remus' parents were the first to be spotted. "Just let us know the second we can come over."

"I will." Remus said hugging them all one more time. "I can't thank you guys enough, for everything you have done for me this year." Remus had been given more then an education, he had been given a chance to make friends. He had found somewhere that he belonged.

"Good, because if you make me stay with my family to long, I will go crazy." Sirius said ignoring the 'thank you' like he normally did. They came rather frequently now.

"Be sure to write even before you know." Carlee said smiling. "I promise to write back."

"Thanks." Remus laughed. Then with one last goodbye, he walked towards his parents and disappeared through the brick wall.

"Well, there are my folks." James said motioning towards two elderly people standing against the wall and waving at James. "Are your guys' parents here yet?"

Sirius and Carlee looked around and shook their heads. "Doesn't look like it." Carlee said. "That's weird."

"Well, you can come wait with me. My parents won't mind. Plus, I kind of want them to meet you."

So they walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

"Hey mum, dad." James said as he gave each of his parents a quick hug. "I wanted to introduce you to some of my friends. This is Sirius Black, and Carlee Baker." Neither Carlee nor Sirius missed the look of surprise that crossed over Mr. Potter's face.

"I hadn't heard that the two of you were in Gryffindor." He said smiling at them as he shook Sirius' hand.

"Well, our families are trying to keep it on the down low." Sirius said smiling back at him.

"Well, I think it is nice to meet the two trouble makers that my son has befriended." Mrs. Potter laughed. "I think the letter I got from Lily mentioned your name at the very least." She said pointing to Sirius.

"Most likely." He said grinning up at her unabashed, causing James' parents to laugh.

"Carlee?" A voice came from behind them and Carlee turned to look.

"Oh hey Daddy." She said running up to him and hugging his middle. He wrapped his arms around her and when she let go, he bent down and kissed her forehead. James made a coughing noise and Carlee rolled her eyes. "I think James wants me to introduce you to him." She said leading her dad over to the Potter's and Sirius. "James, this is my Dad. Dad, this is James Potter."

"It's nice to meet you my boy." Tomas Baker said sticking his hand out and shaking James' hand. Then he turned to James parents and shook there hands as well. Finally he turned to Sirius. "And it's nice to see you again. I hope to be actually seeing you around the farm this summer." As he said this, Carlee hit hear hand to her forehead, a gesture that her dad missed. "I am sorry that I missed you last time."

"It's alright sir. I would be more then happy to visit again. The farm sure is an interesting place."

"Smelly as all heck is what it is." Tom laughed. "But interesting works too."

"Yes, we should probably get going dad. We don't want to keep mom waiting." Carlee said, trying to pull her dad away before he could invite James along as well.

"Yeah your right." He said shaking everyone's hands again. "But you know, you're welcome to come too." He said looking at James. Carlee rolled her eyes and bit down on her lip. Her dad was far too friendly of a person. "The more the merrier."

"Gee, thanks Mr. Baker."

"No problem. It was a pleasure meeting you." He said nodding at James' parents.

"You too Tom." Mr. Potter said. When Carlee and Tom were out of ear shot, he turned to his wife and she just nodded.

"Nothing at all what I was expecting." She said. Her husband agreed.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"What?" Mrs. Potter asked, looking down at Sirius as if she had forgotten that he was there.

"Never mind." Sirius said realizing that she was trying to kindly tell him that he wasn't supposed to hear what she had just said.

A few minutes later, Sirius' parents came to pick him up and James and Sirius said their last goodbyes.

"I am not going to ask you to write." James said to Sirius. "I'll see you at Remus'."

"Okay, but if I do write to you, you better write back."

"Okay, I can do that." James laughed. They shook hands and then walked over to their families. The image looking completely opposite. The Blacks and the Potters were nothing alike. As Sirius' mother grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him away, he looked back over his shoulder one last time to see James looking after him. He tried to pull his arm from his mothers hand, but couldn't manage it so just used his other arm to wave and glued a smile on his face that vanished the second that James was no longer in sight.

"Well?" James father said.

"Let's go home." His mother said pulling him into a hug.

James smiled up at them, but his head was spinning. For the first time, he was starting to understand why Sirius' expression had been so dark when he first met him. "Okay, but I think we need to have Sirius over soon. Like maybe later this week."

"You just said good bye to him." His father laughed.

"Whatever you want." His mother smiled at him. She too had noticed the more then harsh exchange that took place between Sirius and Walburga Black.

"Of course." James' dad said rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous." James smirked leaning into his dad's side.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He laughed.

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><p><strong>AN: And that is the end of the Marauder's first year at Hogwarts. I can't believe that it is over. I had to really kick myself to make this the last chapter. I think it turned out all right, as always, let me know what you think. I hope you like it and continue to read. The sequel will be up soon, but not to soon. It is going to be called, The Marauders: Year Two. No fancy title. See you on the flip side.<strong>

**~Craz**


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